No. 1 Hermantown skates to Class A title over No. 2 Warroad behind pair of Plante goals

On Saturday afternoon top-seeded Hermantown skated past second seeded Warroad 3-2 to claim the Class A title in the Minnesota State High School Boys Hockey Tournament at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

This marks the Hawks first state championship since the 2016-17 season and their first under now fifth year head coach Patrick Andrews.

In their sole regular season meeting with the Warriors it was Hermantown who skated away with the 2-1 overtime victory at home on January 15.

It wouldn’t be until late in the first period on Saturday when the first goal would be scored by Warroad’s Garrett Hennum to take the 1-0 lead. Less than two minutes later Hawks’ Dominic Thomas would score the equalizer on the wrap-around to tie it 1-1 after the first period.

Zam Plante scored 55 seconds into the second period to take the Hawks’ first lead of the day, until a puck off the skates of Warroad’s Griffin Marvin tied it back up 2-2. Plante would march back down and score his second of the day to lift the Hawks up 3-2.

The third period would be marked by a tough defensive showing from both teams. In net for Hermantown, Dane Callaway would make a total 19 saves back stopping them to the 3-2 state victory, while Warroad’s Hampton Slukynsky’s 33.

Hermantown completes their 2021-2022 campaign with a 29-2 overall record earning their program’s fourth overall state championship. Warroad, making their first title game appearance since 2009, finished the season 26-4-1 as Class A runners up.