With St. Paul Academy in the Class 1A, Section 4 final, a formerly forbidden point of discussion has been brought to the forefront.

The Spartans raced past South St. Paul Wednesday night at Roseville Ice Arena with a 7-1 victory in Section 4 semifinal action.

“We talked about it with the captains before the year that we wouldn’t mention the section final until we got there,” St. Paul Academy coach Matt Funk says. “It’s here now, and we are going to prep for it."

Sophomore Devlin McCabe scored the game's first three goals as No. 2-seeded St. Paul Academy raced out of the blocks and permanently seized control of the game from the No. 6-seeded Packers in the early stages.

McCabe opened the scoring 2 minutes, 46 seconds into the game and struck twice more (5:09 and 9:36) in the second period as South St. Paul struggled to find an answer for the Spartans' abundance of speed.

“We knew we had to take it to them using our team speed,” Funk says. “The more the game went on, the more that became a factor.”

St. Paul Academy's depth also wore on the Packers as much as the speed, and the commitment to work the puck deep and widen the defensemen played into the Spartans' hands.

“We try to make other teams play to us, instead of the other way around,” Funk says.  

Along with its jets, St. Paul Academy generated traffic in front of the net, which helped solidify the effort. It helped paint a broader picture of the Spartans’ abilities, along with the three tape-to-tape passes that junior Matt Dahlseide fed McCabe and resulted in goals.

“(McCabe's) a big game type player,” Funk said. “All the way down from Bantams to Peewees to Squirts, Devlin has played in a lot of big games in (various) leagues, and he’s always produced huge results. Really, we expect that from him.”

With 10:08 remaining, Dahlseide scored to push the lead to six goals (7-1) and enacting the running clock for the rest of the game.

On the night, the Spartans outshot the Packers 44-14.

Moreover, the South St. Paul struggled to corral the fleet of St. Paul Academy skaters who flew on the ice from all corners. 

“I wish we were a little more physical tonight,” Packers coach Scott Macho said. “We’ve got guys who can hit, and when you play an opponent as fast as (St. Paul Academy), that’s really what we hoped to do to try to slow them down.

"But it’s tough to do when you have to try to chase down that kind of speed.”

Jacob Toensing stopped 37 shots while Cole Buhl contributed the lone goal for South St. Paul, which ended its season with a 14-13 record.

With the win, the Spartans (23-5), ranked No. 8 in Class 1A by the coaches' poll, inch closer to their first state tournament appearance since joining the Minnesota State High School League in 1975.

It’s always been a motivating factor for any team that plays high school hockey in Minnesota to find a way to “The Tourney.” St. Paul Academy has its own collection of state championships from the Catholic and independent leagues prior to the move to the MSHSL. 

“Yeah, it’s a big game. But there’s also a balance because it is just one game.” Funk said. “We can’t get away from doing what we do, using our speed and playing our game. If we do that, we will be fine.”

The Spartans advance to Friday night's section final, back at Roseville Ice Arena, to face Totino-Grace. Earlier in the night, the Eagles upset top-seed Mahtomedi 6-5.

First Report

St. Paul Academy breezed past South St. Paul Wednesday night at Roseville Ice Arena and came out the other side with a 7-1 victory in Class 1A, Section 4 semifinal action.

Devlin McCabe scored the game's first three goals as the No. 2-seeded Spartans raced out of the blocks and permanently seized control of the game from the No. 6-seeded Packers.

McCabe opened the scoring 2 minutes, 46 seconds into the game and struck again twice (5:09 and 9:36) in the second period as South St. Paul struggled to find an answer for St. Paul Academy's abundance of team speed.

With 10:08 remaining, Matt Dahlseide scored for the Spartans, pushing the lead to six goals (7-1) and enacting the running clock for the rest of the game.

On the night, St. Paul Academy outshot the Packers 44-14.

With the win, the Spartans (23-5), ranked No. 8 in Class 1A by the coaches' poll, inch closer to their first state tournament appearance since joining the Minnesota State High School League in 1975.

St. Paul Academy advances to Friday night's section final, back at Roseville Ice Arena, where it faces Totino-Grace. Earlier in the night, the Eagles upset top-seed Mahtomedi 6-5.

Jacob Toensing stopped 37 shots while teammate Cole Buhl contributed the lone goal for South St. Paul, which ended its season with a 14-13 record.

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