Six different players scored goals and junior goaltender Dane Callaway improved to 15-1 overall with this third shutout of the season as Hermantown blitzed Luverne 6-0 in a Minnesota Class A high school boys hockey quarterfinal Wednesday afternoon at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
Aaron Evjen, River Freeman and Evan Gunderson all scored within a 71-second span in the first period for the defending state champion Hawks, who out-shot the Cardinals 49-13.
Wyatt Carlson, Dallas Vieau and George Peterson added third-period goals for Hermantown (26-2-1), which will face Mahtomedi in a semifinal Friday at 11 a.m. at Xcel.
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Hermantown’s all-senior forward third line of Aaron Evjen-Mason Sundbom-Sam Swenson has made quite a name for itself all season, and perhaps even more so with a ultra-strong performance in the playoffs.
Evjen scored his team’s first goal -- and fifth in four playoff games -- in the Hawks’ dominating win over Luverne Wednesday.
Swenson has a goal and two assists and Sundbom four assists in the post-season.
Swenson has 21 points (7 goals), Evjen 18 (9) and Sundbom 13 (6) for the season overall.
“We’ve played on the same line since our first year of bantams,” Sundbom, a pass-first centerman who plays a heavy two-way game, said after dominating unseeded Luverne. “Aaron is the goal-scorer on our line and Sam does it all. Our line takes hits, plays physical and makes plays. We take a lot of pride in outworking our opponents.
“As a third line you can’t expect us to score pretty goals each night. All three of us realize that our hockey careers will be over after this year’s state tournament, so we’re making the most of our experience.”
Said Evjen: “Our line has been playing together for so long and we realize these are the last few games of our lives, so it adds some urgency. We trust each other on the ice, that if we give the puck up to a linemate we'll get it back. Our line has developed some good chemistry over the years.”
“Our line has built quite a bond playing together throughout the years,” Swenson said following one of his strongest two-way games of his career. “Mason does a lot of the dirty work on our line, and I’m a speed guy who brings the energy. We get mixed in with the fourth line sometimes, since we’re all pretty interchangeable. But mostly, we’re the orange line.”
Sundbom will captain the Hawks golf team this spring, and Evjen and Swenson will co-captain the tennis team.