Hawks Return To State With 4-0 Shutout of Rogers

Wes Vork-NSO

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Mar 2, 2012

Wes Vork-NSO

Matt Mensinger is on a bit of a roll. The star goalie for the Hermantown Hawks continued a streak of shut out goaltending on Friday night when he, and his teammates, slammed the door on Rogers 4-0 in the Section 5A boys hockey playoffs at the Heritage Center in Duluth. The win gave the Hawks the section championship again and their perfect record on the season is still intact.

The last time Mensinger gave up a goal was to Cloquet-Esko-Carlton on February 2nd. Hermantown has outscored their opponents 22-1 in the playoffs and have posted shut-outs in five of the last six games. The only goal the Hawks have given up in the playoffs was to Josh Cisar in a second round game. Cisar happens to be the top goal scorer in the state and the goal was scored after Mensinger left the game with the Hawks leading big. In other words, Mensinger looms as large as the Great Wall of China once the game begins and the Hawks overall defense is as tough as they come in the high school ranks.

Although Mensinger is only a one year starter for the Hawks, his state tournament experience as a backup to Conner Lucas on last year’s second place team will take a lot of the edge off. “I was the backup goalie (last year), it was a pretty fun time, no pressure, the best seat in the house and you don’t have to worry about anything,” explained Mensinger. “This year will be different, I have to play now. I have to be ready to play every game and give my team opportunities to win games.” The experience will help a lot; it’s not too foreign to me, I know what I have to do after watching Conner play last year.”

Owen Stauber scored the only goal the Hawks would need just 1:30 into the first period on a slapper from the high slot with Bo Gronseth and Travis Koepke assisting. Before the period ended the Hawks added a second goal on a shot off the pass from Andrew Mattson with the feed coming from Chris Benson from behind the net with 10:41 gone in the period. Mattson’s goal came early into a power play and Stauber also assisted on the tally.

Just 2:21 into the second period Jeremy Amys found a loose puck and skated in with Paul Harrold on Rogers goalie Robby Vukelich. Having to honor the pass as well as the shot put Vukelich in a bad spot and Amys buried the puck, pushing the lead to 3-0. Matt Lord assisted on Amys’ goal. The Hawks final goal of the second period, and of the game, came at 5:10 on another power play when Jared Kolquist fired a laser that somehow found its way through a maze of players into the Rogers net making it 4-0. The goal was assisted by Jared Thomas and Mattson.

Despite a four-goal outburst the Hawks pride is on the defensive side and it shows. With Mensinger making all 27 saves the Hawks were able to put 45 shots on the Rogers net and continually thwarted any chance of Rogers offense to get started.
The Hawks have shutout Rogers in the past three playoff match-ups
by a combined score of
15-0.

Hermantown Head Coach Bruce Plante gives a lot of the credit to the Hawks senior leadership. “Those three (Jared Thomas, Jared Kolquist, and Brian LeBlanc) are just great leaders; on the ice, in the locker room and on the bench. They make these guys compete, not just in the game but in practice also.” Coach Plante further explained, “They are just great competitors. It doesn’t matter what they’re playing, ping pong or volleyball in school or whatever, they’re just nasty competitors, and they want to win
at everything they do. They’re not going to give up or give in to anybody.”

Thomas, Kolquist, and LeBlanc could have moved on to developmental leagues this year but chose to come back as seniors for a chance to win a state title.

Having a total of 11 seniors on the roster is something Coach Plante believes will be a big plus. “It’s going to help a tremendous amount, they have some higher goals. I know Jared Kolquist specifically was one who came back because he wanted to do better than second place. That’s been his goal all year and he has pushed that on to the rest of the team all year. I know Jared Thomas and Brian LeBlanc feel the same way also.”

Thomas explained that the decision was one the three
talked about as a group. “We got together and talked about it; finishing second for the past two years left a bit of a sour taste in our mouth.” Thomas further explained, “We knew we would have a good team and wanted to make another run and have that senior experience. Not just for ourselves but for the entire team, we didn’t want to let abandon our teammates.”

The Hawks, the #1 ranked Class A team in the state, have kept their remarkable undefeated season unblemished. With a 28-0 record the Hawks will have a target on their back when they had south for the state tourney on Wednesday at the Xcel Energy Center in the Class Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament. Pairings will be announced on Sunday morning.

Wes Vork can be reached at wes@northlandsportsonline.com