Courtesy Of The Grand Forks Herald:
Games and rivalries like the one Logan Marks played in Wednesday night are among the reasons why. Marks stopped 22 shots to help lift Moorhead to a 5-2 victory against three-time defending champion Roseau in the Section 8AA final before 2,902 fans in Ralph Engelstad Arena.
By: Kevin Fee, Grand Forks Herald
THIEF RIVER FALLS – Logan Marks moved to Moorhead from Greenville, S.C., as a freshman.
Now a junior goalie, what does he think of Minnesota high school hockey now?
“It’s so competitive,” Marks said. “I’m so into it. They talk about Texas football and you have Minnesota hockey. It’s right up there.”
Games and rivalries like the one Marks played in Wednesday night are among the reasons why. Marks stopped 22 shots to help lift Moorhead to a 5-2 victory against three-time defending champion Roseau in the Section 8AA final before 2,902 fans in Ralph Engelstad Arena.
It was the fifth straight time Roseau and Moorhead have met in the section final, with Moorhead last winning in 2005.The 15-9-3 Spuds advance to next week’s state tournament in St. Paul.
Roseau ended its season at 15-10-3.
In the third meeting of the year between the teams (Moorhead won 4-3 in overtime and 5-0 during the regular season), three power-play goals sparked the Spuds to the victory.
Leading 3-2 after two periods, Moorhead scored at 3 minutes, 46 seconds of the third to take control.
A Trent Johnson shot appeared to bounce off of Roseau goalie Ethan Kvidt’s glove and trickle past the goal line. Kyle Kraemer was credited with the goal on the official game sheet, but both Johnson and Kraemer said the goal went to the wrong person. Johnson went wide, cut in and fired the shot.
“It’s a save we should have made,” Roseau coach Scott Oliver said. “He just didn’t get a handle on it, and he left it sitting there. Then all the traffic came in and the puck just trickled over the line.”
Johnson was officially credited with two goals, including an empty-netter with 19 seconds left to ice it.
“We came out flying,” Johnson said. “We knew we had to come out in the first period and play well, and that’s what we did. Logan played really strong in the nets, which was good for us.”
Moorhead never trailed, taking a 2-1 lead after one period and a 3-2 edge after two. All five goals in the first two periods came on power plays. The key, Moorhead coach Dave Morinville said, was staying ahead.
“They had to keep coming, keep coming,” Morinville said of the Rams. “That takes a lot out of you. I think that’s what probably helped us out at the end.”
Oliver agreed.
“I was worried about playing from behind because they have three solid lines,” he said of the Spuds.
“Actually, I thought our third line played its best game in a long time. But you’re pressing when you’re playing from behind and we were playing from behind all night. You shorten your bench and you press, so you do fatigue a little more.”
The Spuds received goals from Jordan Doschadis and Johnson to take their lead after the first.
Adam Knochenmus scored for the Rams in the period. Roseau’s Cole Kostrzewski tied it at 6:01 of the second on a shot from the slot before Moorhead answered at 10:31 on a Lucas Henry rebound goal.
“The difference was the special teams,” Oliver said. “They were 3-for-3 on their first three power plays. And we didn’t execute as well the last half of the game on our power play as we did in the first half of the game.”
Marks was a key, too.
The son of former UND player and assistant coach John Marks, Logan Marks made a big save on a backhand attempt by Tyler Landman with Moorhead leading 3-2 in the second.
“That was probably the turning point right there,” Morinville said.
Marks said he’s enjoying his time in Minnesota.
“It’s been a perfect move for me,” he said. “I’ve gotten so much more ice time. I went from an hour of ice time in South Carolina and to now skating every day and playing in front of all these people.”
He’ll play in front of a few more next week in the Xcel Energy Center.
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