--Mahtomedi’s Corey
Bohmert (left), coach Jeff Poeschl and Carson Marshall in the postgame interview
room.
Corey
Bohmert knows all about performing at state tournaments in big arenas. Yes,
tournaments and arenas … plural.
The
Mahtomedi High School senior and his teammates will play in the Class A boys
hockey state semifinals on Friday, mirroring what he and his Zephyrs football
teammates did last fall. Bohmert is a strong example of a multi-sport athlete,
with the latest testament coming via the hat trick he scored in Mahtomedi’s 6-3
win over Alexandria in Thursday’s Class A boys hockey state quarterfinals at
Xcel Energy Center.
Mahtomedi
will meet Hermantown in Friday’s state semifinals. The Hawks defeated Luverne
6-0 on Thursday.
During the
football season, Mahtomedi reached the Class 5A state semifinals, where the
Zephyrs lost to eventual state champion Elk River 38-21 at U.S. Bank Stadium. In
the state quarterfinals, Bohmert rushed for 284 yards and three touchdowns in a
20-14 victory over St. Thomas Academy. He finished the season with 2,338 rushing
yards and 28 touchdowns,
Mahtomedi coach
Jeff Poeschl, who was a three-sport athlete in high school at Hill-Murray, said
of athletes involved in multiple sports, “I think it's tremendously important. I just think that the
ability to cross over and bring that competitiveness and the things that you
learn in one sport and allow it to carry over to the next sport is invaluable.”
Bohmert came into Thursday’s game
with 11 goals in 28 games this season. He scored even-strength goals in each period
against Alexandria. He was credited with four shots in the game, giving him a
75 percent accuracy rate.
“Cory’s about as honest a hockey
player as you're going to find,” Poeschl said. “He's a hard worker. He's
humble. He's skilled. And to be honest, for about at least the last month, he's
had great opportunities but he's been a little snake-bit. We've been telling
him, and he's been telling us, he's saving them for when they count. And so I
couldn't be more pleased that he was rewarded, because he wasn't just rewarded
for the hard work today. I think it's a reward for the hard work that he’s put
in the whole season.”
Mahtomedi outshot Alexandria 48-18
in the game. The Cardinals’ Elijah Rasmussen stopped 42 shots and the Zephyrs’ Charles
Brandt – also the quarterback on the football team – had 15 saves.
After his second big performance in as
many state quarterfinals (in two sports), Bohmert was asked if this stage of
the postseason is special.
“I don't know what's up with that,”
he said, “but I'm just hoping to get a better semifinal outcome.”
Getting Hot At The Right Time
In Hermantown’s win over Luverne, the
Hawks’ first goal was scored by senior Aaron Evjen at 6:28 of the opening period.
Seventy-one seconds later the score was 3-0 on goals by River Freeman and Evan
Gunderson.
Evjen, who had four goals in the regular
season, has exploded in the postseason. He scored the winning goal in a 3-2
victory over Hibbing/Chisholm in the Section 7 semifinals and has five
goals in four playoff games.
“It's an amazing feeling to come
through for my team when they need me,” he said. “I’ve got to give credit to my
linemates, Sam Swenson and Mason Sundbom (also seniors). They made great plays
for me.”
Hawks coach Patrick Andrews said, “Aaron
is a heck of a hockey player in his own right. He’s been a big part of this
group all the way up since squirts. He’s played with all these guys all the way
up. When we have some of the names we have in this program, you might get
overshadowed name-wise, but Aaron’s a huge part of what we do. The kids that
play two years of JV for a chance to play one year of varsity; he’s Hermantown
hockey through and through, his family’s from Hermantown. He’s as blue and gold
as they get and it’s really fun to see Aaron come through for us.
“He’s an amazing human being, a 4.0
student, he checks all those boxes. To see him come through for us when it
matters the most is so awesome.”
The Honor Of
Playing At State
The Luverne
boys hockey team duplicated the accomplishment of the Cardinals girls team, which
played at state two weeks ago.
“I really believe that our team knows what an honor it is to
be here and what it took to get here,” said coach Patrick Paquette. “Many of
them didn't know if this was in the cards for them, and the way they worked
through the section and the way they've dealt with that (was impressive)."
Alexandria senior
Tyler Kludt scored the Cardinals’ first goal of the tournament at 7:59 of the
first period against Mahtomedi, tying the score 1-1.
“It's an adrenaline rush for sure,”
he said of scoring at state. “You know, it's kind of what you want to do to
start the state tournament, especially as an underdog. It was nice to put them
on their toes a little bit and give people a reason to know why we're here.”
--MSHSL media specialist John Millea has been the leading voice of
Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn
and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts.
Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org
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