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Greyhounds withstand Spuds' extra-man surge

Having heard the final horn just before the puck arrived, Moorhead's Aaron Herdt stood frozen in place, his stick cocked and ready to deliver a tying goal.

It became the final missed opportunity in the Spuds' 1-0 loss to No. 2 seed Duluth East in Thursday's first Class 2A boys' hockey tournament quarterfinal at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

"If we had one more second on the clock, who knows?" Herdt said. "Maybe we'd still be out there playing."

For Duluth East forward Ryan Lundgren, one of five Greyhounds skaters tasked with stopping Moorhead's final charge, the game could not have ended soon enough. The Spuds pulled their goalie with 40 seconds remaining and a faceoff in Duluth East's zone, pitting an extra skater and some late-game desperation against the Greyhounds' resolve.

"We're a defensive team and our forwards know how to block shots, so we packed it in," Lundgren said. "I tried blocking a shot at the end. I'll do anything for these guys. I love these guys."

Duluth East’s Dylan Parker made a save during third period during the Class 2A boys’ hockey state tournament quarterfinals at the Xcel Energy Center, Thursday, March 7, 2013 in St. Paul, MN.(ELIZABETH FLORES/STAR TRIBUNE) ELIZABETH FLORES • eflores@startribune.com

After a scoreless opening period, junior forward Jack Kolar scored for Duluth East at 1:13 of the second period. He took a pass from Alex Toscano just inside the blue line and beat Spuds goaltender Jacob Dittmer with a wrist shot.

The Greyhounds (25-4) outshot Moorhead 30-12 and outhit the Spuds (14-12-2) as well. Senior defenseman Andrew Kerr knocked Nicolas Uglem from the game in the second period with a legal check.

"He's one of our big four," Moorhead coach Pete Cullen said. "It hurts to lose a senior captain. We had to scramble to get some magic back and I thought we did."

DAVID La VAQUE