Eden Prairie escaped Braemar Arena with a victory on Saturday, but the Eagles hardly emerged unscathed.

An ugly, game-ending brawl that punctuated No. 1-seeded Eden Prairie’s 1-0 victory over No. 4 seed Benilde-St. Margaret’s in a Class 2A, Section 2 semifinal led to the disqualification of three top Eagles players from Wednesday’s section title game against No. 2 seed Minnetonka.

Two nights after a similar game-ending melee between Bloomington Jefferson and Holy Angels in a Class 2A, Section 2 quarterfinal resulted in no penalties, much less game disqualifications, Eden Prairie learned first-line wing Marc Sullivan, second-line wing Riley Argetsinger and top-four defenseman Louie Roehl all must sit out Wednesday’s game against the Skippers because of their roles in the brawl. A combined 18 penalties were assessed to eight players (four on each team). 

And just like that the joy of victory turns into, well …

“This changes everything,” Eden Prairie coach Lee Smith. “We have to change our line combinations, we’ve got to shuffle our power play, we’ve got to shuffle our penalty kill.”

After clearing the ice, game officials spent more than an hour conferring on what penalties to assign to which players. Smith didn’t disagree with the disqualification calls on Sullivan and Argetsinger, both seniors. He said Roehl, however, had jumped out on the ice to celebrate the victory, not to participate in the fight. There were 0.6 seconds on the clock when the mayhem ensued.

“Our kids did wrong, and they did the right thing with (Sullivan) and (Argetsinger),” Smith said. “But (Roehl) got the shaft.  He was not involved in any way. He gets his (butt) kicked because he didn’t want to get involved in the fight and didn’t throw a punch.”

Video captured by fans shows Argetsinger, who scored the game’s lone goal in the second period off a rebound of a Casey Mittelstadt shot, throwing punches with Benilde-St. Margaret’s Mark Kaske. Kaske and Sullivan, who plays on Eden Prairie’s top power-play unit, received 2-minute penalties for leaving the penalty box early, 5-minute majors for fighting and game disqualifications.

“A lot of emotion out there,” Argetsinger said just minutes after the game and before the disqualifications had been handed down.

Eden Prairie junior goaltender Shaun Durocher, who made 23 saves to earn the shutout, left his crease area and headed to the corner during the early stages of the melee. He was issued a 5-minute major for head contact.

“There was a lot of stuff going on in the corner that you couldn’t really see,” said Durocher, who made a crucial third-period stop on a Chase Jungels breakaway. “After I went in the corner, then it really got pretty vicious. I like to fight and stuff like that. I think it’s a big part of the game.”

Benilde-St. Margaret’s coach Ken Pauly said he was disappointed in the fight at the finish.
 
“No one likes to see it end that way,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of respect between the two programs, but let’s face it, you get a lot of angst out there. They’re disappointed, it’s a high energy thing, it’s a charged environment.”

First Report

Senior forward Riley Argetsinger scored the lone goal, and junior goaltender Shaun Durocher made 23 saves as top-seeded Eden Prairie outlasted No. 4 seed Benilde-St. Margaret’s 1-0 on Saturday in a Class 2A, Section 6 semifinal at Braemar Arena in Edina.

The game was called with .6 seconds left on the clock as players from both teams were throwing punches in the corner to the left of the Eden Prairie goal.

Officials conferred for about an hour after the game and issued 18 penalties associated with the melee. Eden Prairie forwards Argetsinger, Marc Sullivan and defenseman Louie Roehl all received game disqualifications for fighting, which means they will have to sit out Wednesday's section championship game against Minnetonka at Mariucci Arena on Feb. 25. Eden Prairie will be allowed to dress only 17 players for the game, three less than a full roster.

After the players were separated, both teams took just a few seconds to regroup, then lined up at center ice and shook hands.

Argetsinger’s goal, his 10th of the season, came on a rebound shot in the second period. The shutout was Durocher’s third of the season. He withstood heavy pressure in the closing minutes as Benilde-St. Margaret’s pulled goaltender Ryan Bischel in favor of an extra skater and had several quality scoring chances.

Bischel finished with 32 saves for the Red Knights (15-10-2).

Eden Prairie (17-9-0) lost two out of three games against Minnetonka in the regular season.


Benilde-St. Margaret's forward Luke Horton (20) looks for control of the loose puck in a 1-0 loss to Eden Prairie in the Class 2A, Section 6 semifinals at Braemar Ice Arena on Feb. 21. Photo by Rick Orndorf


A tense section semifinal game between Eden Prairie and Benilde-St. Margaret's got ugly in the final seconds. Photo by Rick Orndorf

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