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1A shocker: Alexandria knocks out defending champion Hermantown

By LOREN NELSON, Special to the Star Tribune, 03/09/18, 3:00PM CST

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Jack Powell had a hat trick as the Cardinals advanced to their first title game, handing the Hawks their first loss to a 1A team in three years.


Alexandria celebrates Jack Powell’s second goal of the game as the Hermantown band wasn’t too happy in the front row. Photo: BRIAN PETERSON • brian.peterson@startribune.com

Eat your vegetables. Drink lots of water. Stay away from fast food.

Teams eager to defeat Hermantown, the state’s undisputed king of small-school hockey, need only to pay attention to the instruction manual written Friday by Alexandria senior captain Jack Powell.

The clean-living Powell scored a hat trick to lead the No. 4 seeded Cardinals past No. 1 seed and two-time defending champion Hermantown 6-1 on Friday in the Class 1A semifinals at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

First report

Burly senior defenseman Jack Powell scored three goals and added an assist as No. 4 seed Alexandria stunned No. 1 seed and two-time defending champion Hermantown 6-1 on Friday in a Class 1A semifinal at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

The loss snapped Hermantown’s streak of eight consecutive title game appearances and 48-game unbeaten run against Class 1A teams.

Powell scored his second goal 2:05 into the second period to put Alexandria (19-0-1) ahead 3-1. Junior Ben Jenson added a goal 7 minutes later to make it 4-1. Powell added an empty net goal with 2:28 left to make it 5-1.

Evan Lattimer scored into an empty net with 53 seconds left to cap the scoring.

Alexandria’s Caleb strong scored the only goal of the second period to take a 2-1 lead when he took a backhand feed from defenseman Powell and shoveled a shot over Hermantown goaltender Cole Manahan’s outstretched leg with 2:38 left.

Hermantown (21-7-2) controlled play for long stretches of the second period, unloading 17 shots on Alexandria goaltender Jackson Boline. The Cardinals had five shots in the second.

Hermantown’s Brady Baker opened the scoring midway through the first period with a shot through a screen from the top of the circles. Alexandria tied it at 1 less than 3 minutes later on a power-play goal by Powell.

Alexandria outshot Hermantown 7-5 in the first.

The Hawks’ last loss to a Class 1A team was a 5-4 overtime setback against East Grand Forks in the 2015 state championship game.    

Check back later for more on the game.

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