ALEXANDRIA - For the second straight postseason, the top-seeded Alexandria boys hockey team took care of the eighth-seeded Breckenridge-Wahpeton (1-24) in the Section 6A playoff opener and advanced to the section semifinals.
It didn’t take the Cardinals (12-12-1) long to find the back of the net in Tuesday’s game, as Tyler Kludt scored a goal 11 seconds into the game. This was the first of seven first-period goals for the Cardinals as they went on to win 14-0.
“You can't look away from their record and obviously what happened last year, but we just focused on doing the small things and the simple things correctly,” Alexandria head coach Josh Meyers said. “That’s what I looked at. I gave the guys feedback after their shifts and was sure we were doing what we needed to be.”
Kludt, Gavin Olson, and Joe Lamski all had hat tricks in the win, while Leo Kompelien and Cameron O’Shea had two goals, and Keegan Lucy had one.
“We wanted to come out strong and not overlook them,” Kompelien said. “We know what we're capable of, and we didn't know what they're capable of. So we needed to come out strong, pounce on them early, and show them what we're made of. Being the top seed, we have teams coming for us. We know that there's a target on our back, especially with us beating out the teams that we did last year and having the same competition this year."
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Alexandria put 59 shots on net, and goalie EJ Rasmusen made four saves on the Blades’ four shots on net.
To begin last season’s playoffs, Alexandria beat Breckenridge-Wahpeton 19-0.
In last season’s semifinals, Alexandria met the No. 4 seed Morris Benson Area in St. Cloud and handled that task en route to winning the Section 6A title and making the MSHSL Class A State Tournament.
This time around, Alexandria again awaits the winner of the Section 6A quarterfinal between Morris-Benson Area (the No. 5 seed, 15-9) and Wadena-Deer Creek (the No. 4 seed, 14-9-2), both of whom Alexandria didn’t play in the regular season.
“Wadena put up a lot of goals, and Morris Benson is a very good team,” Meyers said. “It’s tough to say whom we’re going to play, but regardless, we’re focused on us.”
The Morris-Benson Area versus Wadena-Deer Creek quarterfinal game was scheduled for Tuesday but was postponed to later in the week. The other two Section 6A quarterfinal games, No. 6 Willmar (9-16) versus No. 3 Northern Lakes (11-14) and No. 7 Prairie Center Area (7-18), and No. 2 Fergus Falls (12-10-2) were also postponed to later in the week.
The Section 6A semifinals were scheduled for Saturday at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the MAC in St. Cloud but have been postponed to Tuesday, Feb. 28. Alexandria will play Morris-Benson Area or Wadena-Deer Creek at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 28. The Section 6A Championship game is currently scheduled for Thursday, March 2 at the MAC in St. Cloud.
Regardless of who and when they play, the Cardinals are confident, and they’ve found a good rhythm.
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“We have a lot of happiness,” Kompelien said. “There are no people that don't get along. Everyone gets along together. And it's just really one big family that is playing together. We will need all 20 guys on our team to be enthusiastic the whole time and play together as a family."
The Cardinals have won 11 out of their last 15 games.
“They’ve bought in and are playing together,” Meyers said. “They're sacrificing as a group, and they're just doing so many more things better together.”
Alexandria is averaging 3.92 goals per game and is allowing 3.08 goals per game, according to mnhockeyhub.com.
In their last 15 games, the Cardinals have averaged 4.73 goals per game and have held opponents 1.86 goals per game.
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