Coach Bill Lechner “barely even adjusted my tie” before his Hill-Murray Pioneers went down by a goal, only 10 seconds into the game. 

“We made a D-zone mental mistake, and it cost us,” Lechner said.

Luckily for Lechner, there weren’t many more mistakes. Top-seeded Hill-Murray answered quickly in Thursday’s Class 2A quarterfinal of the boys’ hockey state tournament, defeating Lakeville South 3-2 at Xcel Energy Center.

The Pioneers (24-4-1) got a pair of goals from their top defensemen, first Axel Begley tying the game, then Mr. Hockey finalist Leo Gruba making it 2-1 with his quick-release shot on the power play. 

“I think that we made two mistakes, and as we watched on video, I think that Hill capitalizes on about every mistake that you make,” Lakeville South coach Josh Storm said. 

Lakeville South’s Tanner Ludtke gave the Cougars (25-4-0) that early lead. He also called Hill-Murray’s defense the “backbone of their team.”

That starts with junior goaltender Jack Erickson. The save of the night came in a one-goal game with about eight minutes to play. Ludtke took the puck into the zone with Aidan Willis, passing the puck across the ice in front to Willis for the shot. Erickson made a sprawling glove save.

“I had a perfect view, and I think my jaw hit the ice,” Hill-Murray forward Dylan Godbout said. “I knew he could make the save, but on this stage to make that in front of this many people, I’ll remember that for the rest of my life.”