Moorhead hockey continues to impress with two more titles

MOORHEAD — Moorhead hockey equipment has taken a beating this season. The durability of helmets, gloves and sticks of Spuds players have been tested on multiple occasions throughout the season after being vehemently thrown into the air as a result of a championship-worthy effort. Moorhead’s success on the ice was shown on the biggest stage in early March and ended with Spuds hoisting the Minnesota Class 2A boys hockey trophy.

The girls program also joined the fun with a Section 8-2A crown in February. More recently, two Spuds youth teams took home titles to mark a trifecta of state championships for Moorhead. The Junior Gold 16 and Bantam AA teams both won crowns on Sunday, March 16.



“It’s unbelievable,” Spuds Junior Gold 16 head coach Eli Pachel said of Moorhead’s success this season. Forward Reece Smock buried a goal in overtime to lift the Spuds JG 16s to a 3-2 win over Prior Lake in the state tournament championship at Braemer Arena in Edina. The contest marked Moorhead’s second overtime win of the tournament with Soren Kluck scoring a goal in double-overtime to power a 5-4 win over Eagan in the quarterfinals.

Spuds goaltender Will Hazeldine saw the most shots of all the goaltenders in the JG 16 tournament and garnered a 2.20 goals-against average and .918 save percentage.

In New Ulm, the Moorhead Bantam AA team capped off its dominant campaign with a 6-1 win over Rosemount. The Spuds ended the season 50-3-1 and was ranked the No. 1 team in Minnesota by Youth Hockey Hub.

Moorhead outscored opponents 396-75 throughout the season. The Spuds have won three of the last four Bantam AA tournaments and captured their second straight in the win. Goaltenders Will Arnold and Maddox Gregoire combined for 51 saves on 55 shots in the tournament.

The Spuds Bantam AA roster contains highly-touted recruits, including forward Joey Cullen and defenseman Beck Thoreson. Cullen was ranked the No. 1 U.

S. skater born in 2010 according to Puck Preps and defenseman Beck Thoreson was invited to tryout for the U.S.

National Team Development Program. “They have the advantage of being able to practice against some of the best kids at their age group every day,” Bantam AA head coach Matt Cullen told The Forum in December. “They have learned to put a lot into their practices and continue to make each other better.

” With the Moorhead High School varsity losing seven seniors to graduation, the Spuds hope to have some of the home-grown talent join the program next season. Spuds varsity head coach Jon Ammerman said he’s been keeping an eye on the youth programs throughout the season. Despite the framework for another head-turning season, he acknowledges that players will be courted for opportunities to play outside of Moorhead.

“Right now is a great time in Moorhead hockey,” Ammerman said. “There’s a lot of people that have put in a lot of time and effort to give these kids an opportunity. .

.. It’d be really fun to make another run at it with a lot of the kids that we have in the program.

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