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Delano's 'Blue Magic' line vs. Little Falls and its standout goalie

By LOREN NELSON, Special to the Star Tribune, 03/29/21, 4:15PM CDT

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The last 1A quarterfinal of the day, with the 4-5 seeds, for the chance to play again on Friday.

NO. 5 DELANO (14-6-1)
VS. NO. 4 LITTLE FALLS (13-4-1), 8 p.m.
Scouting the Tigers: Delano, in the tourney for a third straight year, stumbled to a 2-5 start this season. Lineup changes led to the reunion of the Tigers’ “Blue Magic” line of Jesse Peterson, Gunnar Paulson and Trevor Oja, and the trio’s consistent scoring has helped fuel Delano’s 11-game unbeaten streak entering the tourney. Delano’s resurgence also has been sparked by the surprise emergence of senior Brad Pinoniemi as the team’s top goal scorer with 16. Forward Adam Brown — also a football standout — is the Tigers’ top scorer with 32 points.

Scouting the Flyers: Little Falls coach Tony Couture, in his 28th season, said he “hemmed and hawed” about retiring for several months before he announced last week that this season would be his last season. His son, Dane, is a standout senior goaltender who stopped a combined 78 of 80 shots in the section semifinals and final. Matt Filippi, a 6-2 sophomore, leads the Flyers with 19 goals. Senior Nicholas Stevens (team-best 32 points) provides high-energy on the ice and high-comedy in the locker room.

Worth knowing: Senior Trevor Oja and sophomore Jake Oja are the fifth and sixth brothers in their family to play for Delano.

LOREN NELSON

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