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Hill-Murray senior Luke Ranallo (8) celebrates his breakaway goal in the third period. Photo by Mark Hvidsten

Jake Begley’s presence was requested outside the swank Hill-Murray locker room at Aldrich Arena. But the Pioneers junior goaltender was, at that precise moment, too busy to meet with the media.

“He’s dancing,” Hill-Murray coach Bill Lechner said as Kenny Loggins’ “Footloose” blasted through the sound system and out the locker room door.

Begley’s best moves weren’t reserved solely for the plush, green carpet in the Pioneers’ locker room. No, he played hockey’s version of Kevin Bacon all night Tuesday as No. 10-ranked Hill-Murray knocked off No. 2 Blaine 5-2.

“He had some great saves in the third period there, and even in the second period, too,” said Blaine senior forward and projected first-round NHL Draft pick Riley Tufte, who had two golden scoring chances denied by out-of-nowhere Begley saves. “Those were kind of tap in goals, but he just kind of stuck his glove out there at the last moment.”

Blaine (13-4-0) unloaded 18 of its 37 shots on Begley in the third period, and managed to get goals from Tufte and high-scoring linemate Luke Notermann.

But Begley stayed calm under fire, alternately smothering rebounds and snatching pucks with the nonchalance of a firefighter dousing a campfire.

In the second period, he denied Tufte on a point-blank rebound shot just from the right of the crease. In the third, he slid across the crease just in time to stuff a wraparound attempt by the 6-foot-4¾, 205-pound winger with the wingspan of a Boeing.

“He likes those moments,” Lechner said about Begley, who shut out St. Thomas Academy in a 1-0 win in his previous outing. “I think the bigger the game, the bigger he steps up.”

Begley played against most of the state’s top players in the Upper Midwest High School Elite League this fall, posting respectable but not stellar statistics.

He’s cranked his game up a notch this winter for Hill-Murray (12-4-1), registering a sparkling .932 save percentage and 1.32 goals-against average in 13 starts. He said he had never played against Tufte, who did break through for a third-period goal, before Tuesday night.

“You just know you have to be prepared for the high quality shots and the high quality players coming in looking to shoot every time they have the puck,” Begley said. “You don’t want to let down your team when you are performing on the big stage.”

Tufte, who leads Class 2A in scoring with 27 goals, said the Bengals have played against tough goaltenders plenty of times this season.

“But never one that hot,” he said.

First Report

Hill-Murray junior goaltender Jake Begley made 18 of his 37 saves in the third period, including several tough stops on projected NHL first-round pick Riley Tufte, as the Pioneers hung on to beat Blaine 5-3 on Tuesday night at Aldrich Arena in Maplewood in a clash of top 10-ranked Class 2A teams. 

Begley kept his cool under fire, soaking up shot after shot and allowing no rebounds to speak of as the No. 2-ranked Bengals had the No. 10 Pioneers under siege for all but a few minutes in the final period.

One of those brief Hill-Murray bursts came with the Pioneers (12-4-1) killing a 5-on-3 Blaine power play. Senior forward Luke Ranallo stole the puck near the blue line off a faceoff, then raced in alone for a breakaway goal to put the Pioneers ahead 4-1 with 10:39 left in the third.

Blaine (13-4-0) pulled to within 4-2 with 6:21 left on a goal by senior forward Luke Notermann, but Hill-Murray’s Dylan Mills clinched the win with an empty-net goal with 22 seconds left.

Mills also had a first-period goal, and Brock Bremer and Joey Baumann also scored for Hill-Murray, which led 3-0 heading into the third period. The 6-foot-4 ¾, 205-pound Tufte scored his Class 2A-leading 27th goal of the season 2:39 into the third period and added an assist on Notermann’s goal.

Blaine starting goaltender Jon Kallestad made 14 saves before giving way to Mitchel Peterson late in the second period. Peterson stopped three of the four shots he faced in the third.

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