The Luverne Cardinals Boys hockey team traveled to St. Peter last Wednesday evening with hopes of repeating as Section 3A champions. A rematch with the Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato Dragons was all that stood in their way of a second consecutive trip to St. Paul and the Minnesota High School Hockey Tournament.
The first period ended in a 0 to 0 tie with neither team able to put anything past the goaltenders. It was back and forth action, with Luverne outshooting the Dragons 11 to 8 for the first 17 minutes.
The game’s first goal would come at 9:15 mark of the second period when Litchfield was able to get one past the Cardinals goaltender. After two periods Litchfield not only lead on the scoreboard 1 to 0, but were now outshooting the Cardinals 26 to 22. Luverne would hit the ice for the final 17 minutes trailing on the scoreboard.
Luverne threw everything they had at the Litchfield freshman goaltender, but he was up to the challenge. Litchfield extended their lead to 2 to 0 just 44 seconds into the third period. But the Cardinals got back to within 1 at the 3:44 mark when Gage Nath was able to solve the Dragon netminder. Kaysn Kruse and Jim Erickson were credited with assists on the goal. From there on out the Dragon backstop stood tall turning away everything the Cardinals had. When the final horn sounded, Litchfield celebrated the victory 4 to 1, and ending the Cardinals season for the second time in 3 years.
Luverne ended its season 20 and 7 on the year. A second consecutive trip to St. Paul just wasn’t in the Cards this year.
