Sophomore Linden Olness has played with veteran poise in his first season starting between the pipes for Breck and has proved troublesome for rival Blake this season.
 
He stopped 32 of 33 shots in two regular season games and posted a 22-save shutout as the top-seeded Mustangs defeated the fourth-seeded Bears 4-0 in the Class 1A, Section 2 semifinals Tuesday night at Parade Ice Garden in Minneapolis.
 
“It’s always a tough atmosphere in the sections,” Olness said. “We fought through some adversity missing a guy, so I was happy with how we played.”
 
Ranked No. 2 in the Class 1A coaches’ poll, Breck (23-3-1) advanced in the section tournament without second-leading scorer Mitchel Machlitt.
 
Facing Blake for the third time, Mustangs coach Les Larson was expecting a tough fight.
 
“They throw the kitchen sink at you,” Larson said. “I don’t think we were totally on tonight, but we fought through it.”
 
Olness' play anchored the Mustangs early, weathering 10 shots in the opening period while the Bears (14-13) remained in striking distance.
 
“We told (Olness) at the beginning of the season, “All you have to do is play good' ", Larson said. “We have good defensemen and our forwards come back, but he played really solid tonight.”
 
Larson argued an icing call in the third period, which allowed the Mustangs to maintain focus on the game.
 
“I’m glad (Larson)'s that emotional about the game and sticking up for us,” Olness said. “We had guys at the faceoff - we weren’t worried about the call - and were just laughing, cracking jokes.”
 
Larson’s selflessness was also evident after the game, when he carried Brandon Leitz’s bag out of the locker room. Leitz sustained an injury during the game.
 
The Mustangs face Delano in the section finals for a chance to advance to their sixth state tournament in the past seven seasons.
 
“(Blake) came out and tried to be physical with us, and I thought we handled that well,” Larson said. “It was hard for us and it was hard for them, but we’re happy to advance to the finals.”

First Report

Sophomore goaltender Linden Olness posted a 22-save shutout in Breck’s 4-0 victory over Blake Tuesday night in a Class 1A, Section 2 semifinal at Parade Ice Garden in Minneapolis.
 
Ranked No. 2 in the Class 1A coaches’ poll, the top-seeded Mustangs (23-3-1) defeated the fourth-seeded and No. 12-1A Bears (14-13) for the third time this season.
 
Senior captain Tyler Scott broke open the game by rocketing a shot from the point past Blake goaltender Andrew Dietrich on the power play with under four minutes left in the opening period.
 
Junior Austin Heidemann and sophomore Will Torgerson each netted goals in the second period.
 
Heidemann scored an empty-netter in the final period to put the game away.
 
Dietrich stopped 32 of 36 shots.

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