Maple Grove junior goaltender Jack Wieneke came into the team locker room the day before his team’s section final game “and you could see how bad he wanted it,” said his coach, Todd Bergland.

He wanted a state bid so much that he turned in a season-high, 45-save performance for a 3-0 shutout over Blaine in the Class 2A, Section 5 championship game Thursday at Aldrich Arena. For Wieneke, it was the “game of his life,” Bergland said.

Wieneke, who held his ground as Blaine outshot the Crimson 19-7 in the third period and put a flurry of shots on net in the final two minutes, credited his teammates in front of him for the defensive help.

Maple Grove proved the adage Thursday that it’s tough to defeat a team three times in a season.

The Crimson defeated conference foe Blaine 3-0 to win the Class 2A, Section 5 championship at Aldrich Arena. Maple Grove (20-8-0) had lost the two regular-season meetings to Blaine, the last coming in overtime.

Junior defenseman Henry Nelson gave the Crimson a 1-0 lead late in the first period for his fifth power-play goal (11th goal overall) this season.

Maple Grove had another great start in the second, taking a 2-0 lead two minutes into the period on a quick pass play from freshman Landen Gunderson to Joshua Giuliani.

Junior Chris Kernan finished a 2-on-1 play for the 3-0 lead with about 7 minutes to play in the third.

Crimson junior goaltender Jack Wieneke, who was in net for the first two games against Blaine this year, earned his fourth shutout of the season.

Blaine (19-9-0), last year’s Class 2A third-place team, had outscored opponents 8-0 in its previous two section tournament games.

Check back later for more on the game.