Gentry Academy wins 1A championship

NSO – Don Williams

Senior forward Damon Furuseth had a goal and three assists and Gentry Academy held Dodge County scoring superstar Brody Lamb to a single goal as the No. 2-seeded Stars eased to an 8-1 victory to win the Class 1A championship at Xcel Energy Center.

The Stars (19-0) became Class 1A’s first unbeaten, untied state champion since Red Wing went 28-0 in 1997. Hermantown went 29-0-1 to win a Class 1A title in 2007.

Gentry Academy, based in Vadnais Heights, also became the first Class 1A team to win a state title in its first tournament appearance since Benilde-St. Margaret’s in 1999. Unseeded Dodge County (19-4-1) also was making its first trip to the state tournament.

Lamb was bottled up at every turn until the third period Saturday when he scored  2:21 into the final period to make it 4-1. The goal was Lamb’s 10th of the tournament and 52nd of the season.

Gentry Academy regained the momentum quickly, getting goals from Isaiah Norlin and Brevan Grigus to make it 6-1.

Stars senior Nick Sajevic added a goal with 4:49 left to make the score 7-1 and put the game into running time (six-goal lead or more in the third period). The goal was Sajevic’s fourth of the tournament. Reese Shaw also scored late in the third for Gentry Academy.

Gentry Academy took control with a three-goal second period. Wes Berg, Barrett Hall and Bailey McGraw scored during a span of 7:03 to give the Stars a 4-0 lead. Hall’s goal came on the power play, Gentry’ Academy’s second on the man-advantage.

Furuseth scored the only goal of the first period on a power play at 5:02. His shot from the high slot beat a screened Dodge County goaltender Isaac Dale. The goal was Furuseth’s 16th of the season and fourth of the tournament.

Dale, a junior, was pelted with pucks from all angles and trajectories in the first period, when Gentry Academy outshot Dodge County 23-4. He made repeated stops on one-time blasts from Stars sharpshooter Nick Sajevic, among his many spectacular saves.

Dale finished with 46 saves while Gentry Academy’s Alex Timmons had eight.

The Stars won 15 of their games by six or more goals, shut out seven opponents and scored 10 or more goals six times.

Gentry Academy, a charter school with an enrollment of about 100 high school-age students, has opted up to play at the Class 2A level next season.