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St. Paul United blasts through Mahtomedi to claim section championship

By Ellis Williams, SportsEngine, 02/15/17, 7:00AM CST

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The United scored four goals in the second period en route to a 6-0 win over the Zephyrs.




St. Paul United celebrates one of its six goals Wednesday night at St Thomas Academy Ice Area. St. Paul United beat Mahtomedi 6-0 to claim the Class 2A Section 4 title. Photo by Korey McDermott, SportsEngine


St. Paul United's Jenna Hoops skates by her teammates, celebrating the first of 4 SPU goals in the second period. Photo by Korey McDermott, SportsEngine



St. Paul United junior Samantha Burke netted two goals, despite her right hand being in a cast, in a section championship victory Feb. 15. Photo by Korey McDermott, SportsEngine


What started as a single second period St. Paul United goal, quickly snowballed into five unanswered United points and Mahtomedi trailing 5-0 midway through the second period of the Class 1A, Section 4 final.

Already leading 1-0 entering the second period, St. Paul United exploded for four second period goals en route to defeating the Zephyrs 6-0 inside St. Thomas Arena.

Giving up four goals in the span of five minutes was too much for Mathomedi to overcome.

“When the momentum gets going there is only so much you can do,” Zephyrs coach Bill Mauricio said. “It got away from us quickly and we didn’t stop them.”

St. Paul United (19-6-2), ranked No. 3 in Class 1A in the state coaches' poll, has players from St. Paul Academy and Summit School, and Visitation.

Eighth grader Jillan Oncay stopped all 14 shots she faced in the shutout.

“She made a few saves early but their were times you could tell she was an eighth grader,” United coach Nate Mauer said. “She kept the puck out of the net, and got whistles and that’s all I wanted from her today.”

Senior captain Joie Phelps scored one goal and added two assists. Her goal was the fifth of the game and came on a breakaway late in the second period when she beat the Mahtomedi defense down the ice leaving Zephyrs goalie Johanna Ficcadenti with no chance.

In the first period, St. Paul United outshot Mahtomedi (11-14-3) 14-7, but Mahtomedi only had one goal to show for it. Senior Maggie Connors beat Ficcadenti on a shot far left for a short-handed score.

Both team’s power-play units were on the ice twice, but neither could score and Mahtomedi letting up a goal with a man-advantage put them behind the eight ball early.

St. Paul United added one goal to its lopsided victory in the third frame and advance to the state tournament with the win.

“We were patient with it,” Mauer said. “Once we got one they kept coming and they are not all going to be pretty goals. Some are dirty… But we did not expect to put six up on Mahtomedi with how well they play defensively.”

First Report

St. Paul United scored four goals in the second period en route to defeating Mahtomedi 6-0 in the Class 1A, Section 4 final at St. Thomas Arena.

Mahtomedi (11-14-3) was outshot by the United 35-14 and failed to capitalize on one of its three power-play chances.

St. Paul United (19-6-2), ranked No. 3 in Class 1A in the state in the coaches' poll, scored its first goal when Maggie Connors netted a short-handed chance in the first period.

Jenna Hoops started the second period four-goal explosion off a rebound chance. Hoops then assisted on the United's next goal when Clare Tipler scored on a slap shot from the point.

Already up 5-0 entering the third, the United added one more goal before the final buzzer sounded

St. Paul United goalie Jilian Oncay earned the shutout, stopping 14 shots.

Zephyrs goaltender Johanna Ficcadenti saved 29 of 35 shots.

With the win, St. Paul United advances to the state tournament.

Photo Gallery


Joie Phelps (17) of St. Paul United fights off Matomedi's Bridget Barnett (5) during their 1A Section 4 championship matchup. Phelps had a goal in the United's 6-0 victory. Photo by Korey McDermott, SportsEngine

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