Hermantown’s Title Hopes Derailed By Zephers

Wes Vork-NSO

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Nov 5

Joe Vork-NSO

The Hermantown Hawks entered the championship game with hopes of striking early and often. Unfortunately, it was the Zephyrs from Mahtomedi who claimed the early lead on their way to a 3-0 victory.

Mahtomedi took a 1-0 lead when a free kick from 5 yards outside of the goalie box led to a scramble in front of the net, which Zephyr forward Ryan Redmond blasted past the outstretched Hermantown goalie Andrew Samberg for the early 1-0 lead.

The situation went from bad to worse for the Hawks when, two minutes later, another foul led to a Zephyr goal. This time it was Bernado Medellin hammering home the kick in the top corner of the net on a free kick from 25 yards out to make the score 2-0.

Mahtomedi had an opportunity to go up by three goals when Zephyr forward Mike Potocnik got behind the Hawk defense; but he couldn’t convert the scoring opportunity, missing the open corner of the net. The Zephyrs outshot the Hawks at halftime 13-0. The Mahtomedi defenders held the potent Hawk forwards in check, allowing only one corner kick at the 33:00 minute mark.

Hermantown opened the second half strong, playing most of the first 10 minutes in their offensive zone. However, the strong play yielded only 3 shots on goal. Mahtomedi then began controlling the pace of the game.

The aggressive forward play almost paid dividends for the Zephyrs, who had two goals disallowed due to being offside. The Zephyrs’ lightning quick Emmanuel Giddings had one of the two opportunities and was caught offside on the second.

Hermantown continued to apply pressure in the second half, but never had another scoring opportunity. Mahtomedi scored the final goal of the game when Tabor Wolde got behind the defense from 30 yards out and punched in his own rebound after the initial stop by Hawk goaltender Samberg with 12 seconds left in the game.

Hermantown head coach Dave Thompson told NSO, “It was tough to match Mahtomedi’s level of intensity in the first half.” Whatever Coach Thompson told his squad at halftime must have worked because the Hawks came out ready to play and matched the Zephyrs stride for stride in the second half.

At the conclusion of the game, Andrew Motley, Charlie Comnick, and Willis Kantonen were selected to the Well’s Fargo all-tournament team.

The final four minutes of the game were delayed when Zephyr goalie James Neher was taken from the field after being hurt on a scramble in front of his net. Unfortunately, Nehrer was taken from the field in an ambulance, which tempered the excitement of a Zephyr state championship. NSO wishes Nehrer and his family well.

Joe Vork can be reached at joe@northlandsportsonline.com