Minnesota Hockey Hub | MN Boys High School Hockey

Jeremiah Barker hesitated at the mic. Not one to get many chances to score, he sheepishly admitted that his best opportunities had been on open nets, which he missed.

None of that matters now. The junior Marshall left wing, who plays on his team’s third line, scored his first career goal Wednesday and put his name in school history by scoring the southwestern Minnesota school’s first state tournament goal ever at Xcel Energy Center.

“We kept on saying, ‘Who was going to be the first one to score for Marshall?’ ” coach Dave Coudert said. “Having him score the first goal lifted us up. We knew someone was going to be the hero for us to get that goal.”

On a team with leading scorers Corey Clark and Quinn Horvath, the distinction will be forever Barker’s. At the postgame news conference, he stood out from his four more tradition-minded teammates by sporting a beanie over his long hair.

A chain necklace peeked through an undershirt, and the lower half of his legs were exposed down to his white ­sneakers.

The Tigers needed an unconventional opportunity to score in the second period against Breck, Class 1A’s No. 2-seeded and -ranked team. The Mustangs planned for a shutout and won easily 6-1.

“I didn’t realize it had gone in. I just saw a flash of it,” Barker said. “I honestly couldn’t believe it.”

Baker knows it’s not his role to score. He and the third line are meant to be a brief physical buffer while the first two lines reload. But when he got a chance in front of the goal, he made it count, even with a goaltender in the net.

Baker’s immediate reaction: “Wow, I just scored a goal.”

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