#1 seed Mahtomedi (15-9-2) comes into this game having shut out #9 St Paul in the 4A Quarterfinals. The Zephyrs were able to get good scoring across the lineup card, led by Sr. Henry Sampair and Jrs. Will Seevers, Devin O'Donnell & Henrik Buckley, who all had 2-goal nights. Goaltender Srs. Jackson Chesak & Nico Huberty combined for the shutout in net. Now they will take on Hastings in the 4A Semifinal. On paper, this would appear to be another game where Mahtomedi is the favorite. However, the Zephyrs struggled with the Raiders just two weeks ago, as after jumping out to a 3-0 lead, they let Hasting claw back into the game that ended 3-2. The Zephyrs will want to jump on the Raiders and their hot goalie early, as the longer they let them hang around, the more their belief will grow.
#4 seed Hastings (13-12-1) enters this game having been able to just get past #5 South St Paul in the 4A Quarterfinals. The Raiders were able to get a lead behind Sr. Finn Zaruba’s lone goal, and then goaltender Sr. Charlie Stoffel was spectacular the rest of the way, picking up the shutout. They’ll now look to do the same in this one and pull the massive upset over Mahtomedi, and it should be noted that they hung around with the Zephyrs during the year, as they lost in a one-goal game after getting off to a slow start in that one. If the upset is to happen this time around, they'll need another big game from their hot goalie, who will need to stop 50-plus shots again, as he was asked to do in the first matchup, and the longer they can stay in the game, the more an upset bid could loom in this one.
4A SF- #1 Mahtomedi vs #4 Hastings
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