It's tough to beat anyone three times in a season and Cloquet has been known to pull an upset or two come playoff time but, I think Rapids will get the job done.
Unfortunately, the better team won. I was very disappointed with Cloquet's play from the second period on. Besides a few players on C-E-C they all looked lost. Blindly ringing the puck, not looking to pass on 2 on 1's, and simply being afraid to make plays offensively. With the exception of Jokinen, CEC's defenseman simply looked tired. I felt that Kuhlman and MacFarlane played pretty well for the Jacks and both easily could have had a couple goals. Patrick Moore was stellar as usual. Rapids is a lot deeper than most would think. All three lines work hard and can make plays. Rapids also has a very nice power-play which creates a lot of high percentage opportunities. Bischoff is a very nice player, and will be key in Thursday's game. Rapids' 2 on 1 goal where Peterson batted it out of the air off that saucer pass was beautiful (I even clapped). Should be a great game on Thursday, good luck to both teams, I'm confident they can both represent 7AA well down in St. Paul.