Sports
St. Louis Park Bantams Make Good Run at State
The Orioles won the consolation championship in Virginia, Minn.
The 2010-11 St. Louis Park Bantam A team was successful at the state tournament in Virginia, Minn., over the weekend, a run that ended with a consolation championship.
The team started the tournament Friday with a tough loss to top-ranked Elk River 3-1. The SLP Bantams out shot Elk River 29-20 but managed just one goal.
“We had four straight penalties called on us midway through the game that gave Elk River a long 5-on-3 man power play advantage. During that time, Elk River scored big goals and held that momentum for the win," head coach Justin Magnuson said. "The favor of a 5-on-3 advantage was never returned to us, unfortunately.”
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The team came to life in the Saturday game versus East Grand Forks, however, and exploded for five third-period goals in a very physical contest. This big win advanced the Park players to the consolation championship game versus metro rival Blaine. SLP came out flying and had a 2-0 lead after the game's first minute of play. This prompted the Blaine coaches to switch goalies, but Park pumped four more goals past the new net minder for a 6-1 first period lead. The team continued to play some of the season's best hockey and scored two more goals in the second and third periods, en route to an 8-3 consolation championship win.
Goal scorers in the games included Zack Hale, Josh Passolt, Chris Grassel, Peter Heimbold, Jack Glover, Noah Fortmeyer, Jack Jablonski, Nick Heid and Jake Lukasavage. The team had several nice passing plays with assists going to Ryan Collins, Matt Mogensen, Owen Larson, Nathan Hanks, Zack Hale, Josh Passolt, Peter Heimbold, Jack Glover, Noah Fortmeyer, Jake Lukasavage, Chris Grassel, Jack Jablonski and Nick Heid.
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Park had great goaltending as well, with Henry Johnson manning the net in the 8-3 win over Blaine and Eric Speicher stopping East Grand Forks for a 6-2 win.
The team is sponsored by the St. Louis Park Hockey Association along with VFW Post 246, and ends the season with a record of 33-12-6. The team includes St. Louis Park and Minneapolis area 14- and 15-year-old boys attending public or private schools in the two cities.
In other tournament results, Eden Prairie won the championship game versus Woodbury 4-3 in two overtimes and Elk River beat Rochester 4-0 for third place honors.