March 2

[Of first importance, a night road trip.  Haven’t done one for a while because night driving out-of-the-city-limits in winter induces great apprehension in the 70-ish citizenry.  But our friend Ets (now from Ashby) claimed to be a Rainman “very good driver” even though he’s the same age, said he would drive.  So with Brad the class of ’65 troika (though Ets from Minnetonka) made its way to the Municipal Athletic Complex, a/k/a, the MAC, in St. Cloud for the section championship game between our 2nd-seeded Cards and top seed St. Cathedral.  The Alex band made it too.]

[The KXRA broadcast team made it too, with Mitch Loch sitting in for Bob Cunniff.]

[Our Cards . . . ]

[We tied the Crusaders 3 – 3 in our only regular season meeting.]

[Our starting line-up of Wade Smith (25), Mack Strong (16), Jack Westlund (10), Ben Doherty (7), Jack Powell (21), and . . . ]

[Goalie Bailey Rosch (31)]

[I see Card girl basketballers . . . probably hockey players too.]

[Ka mate, ka mate! Ka ora! ka ora!  Ka mate! Ka mate! Ka ora! Ka ora!  Tenei te tangata puhuruhuru;  Nana nei i tiki mai whakawhiti te ra;  A upa … ne! ka upa … ne!  A upane kaupane whiti te ra!]

[OK, we’d just been to New Zealand where we learned the Maori war chant.]

[And away we go . . . ]

[And the puck squirts over toward Strong.]

[A Cardinal of indeterminate number enters the Crusader zone.]

[As do Doherty and Westlund.]

[Strong joins his linemates.]

[Fast-paced, well-played first period.  The Crusaders scored about half way through and probably held a slight edge in play.]

[Jack Powell chases down the puck in the offensive zone.  I thought he had a particularly strong all around game.]

[A shot fired by who appears to be Derek Dropik (8) . . . ]

[If so, he then follows his own shot.]

[CARDS SCORE!! Wait a sec . . . apparently not?  After several sessions of the United Nations General Assembly it was determined that the goal be disallowed. As we go to press here, I still don’t know why.  Needless to say, the Cardinal bench and fans expressed vocal opposition.]

[We’re starting the 3rd period.  Somehow I failed to note that the Crusaders got two late goals in the 2nd period – the Cards appeared to be really bummed by their goal that didn’t count.  If it had counted, would it have made a difference in the game’s outcome?  As Weird Al Yankovic once posited, we’ll never know.  Powell and Smith take to the ice on defense knowing the Cards had to score early to make it a game.]

[Powell and Strong storm the Crusader zone . . . ]

[Then early in the period, the Cards scored on a beautiful passing play just as a Crusader penalty expired.  Westlund scored off tic-tac-toe passes from Smith and Powell.  The Cards were juiced – we’re back in the game!]

[Micah Christenson (22) on the attack.  The Cards had a great chance here as the Crusaders were hit with a 5-minute major penalty.]

[Doherty joins in then . . . ]

[Derek Berning (26) scored making the score 3 – 2.  There was still over 4 minutes left in the major penalty.]

[The Crusader fans are getting nervous!]

[But then the Cards committed back-to-back minor penalties and went from a power play to having to kill off a 4-on-3 shorthanded situation.  We did . . . but precious time to get a tying goal was lost.]

[Strong carries in . . . ]

[And again . . . ]

[The Cards kept the pressure on for much of the rest of the game.]

[Oooohhhh . . . ]

[Final pushes . . . ]

[Oooohhhh, again!]

[OMG, go in!!!!]

[But nope . . . ]

[Crusaders win 3 – 2.  Good game by both teams.  I thought our goalie Bailey Rosch was terrific.  We lose 8 seniors but have a good core back again next year, including all three goalies.  I would think a goal to get at least this far again is quite reasonable.]

[Now we have to cheer on the Crusaders as our section representative in state.]

Our [goalies] first priority was staying alive. Our second was stopping the puck.  ~  Glenn Hall