Photo Gallery: Rosemount vs. Shakopee
Whitbeck provided it, scoring two from near the same spot on the right side, from 10 yards out, to tie the game and give the Sabers the lead. A sneak around the net to complete his hat trick provided an insurance goal.
Both coaches chalked Tuesday up as a well-played game between two skilled squads. The final score wasn't indicative of a battle that at one point looked destined for overtime.
"Shakopee did a great job sticking to their (game plan) even though we were ahead by two goals," Rosemount coach Lance Kuehn said. "They kept themselves composed and came back to tie it up. When it was crunch time and they were up by one, we had to play a little bit riskier to get the ball back and it put us in a spot for them to score again. Unfortunately, we went for turnovers and they capitalized at the end each time with a goal and put three more in at the end that resulted from riskier plans."
Colton Maskevich had four assists and a goal, Zane Orchard had three goals and an assist and Linus Toward is up to a team best 36 goals on the season after scoring twice.
"Jonathan Wamsley, I think it’s his first year on varsity," Maskevich said. "He was huge on the wing. Most ground balls he’s ever had in a game. Biggest role he’s ever had in a game in his career by far. Jadon Hellerud, he’s really starting to get control of those face offs so Wamsley can get those ground balls."
Shakopee, ranked No. 3 in the May 16 state coaches poll, keeps its hopes of its first South Suburban Conference title alive when it travels to fellow conference unbeaten No. 4 Prior Lake Thursday.
A win would likely net Shakopee the top seed in Section 2. The state's deepest section features three top-five teams in the state with No. 2 Chanhassen and No. 5 Buffalo, the latter entering Thursday undefeated as well. Shakopee faces neither team in the regular season.
First, the Lakers await.
"Huge border battle. We’ve never beaten Prior Lake," Whitbeck said. "We’re coming for them."
This matchup has been a long time coming for Maskevich.
"I’ve been waiting for this one since freshman year. I lost my sophomore year to Covid. I was injured junior year," Maskevich said. "I haven’t played them since freshman year; we lost 5-4. It’s all I’ve been thinking about since freshman year. I want this so bad."
Shakopee coach Sean Pollock was proud of his team for not overlooking No. 7 Rosemount. The Irish were paced by a hat trick by Matt Dabrowski and a stellar performance by goalie Aiden Sorsoleil, who made 12 of 23 saves (.522) and drew praise from the Shakopee side.
"Today was the one I was concerned with how we’d play," Pollock said. "I know how much Prior Lake means to them, which is sometimes a detriment to how we play. But that was a really good Rosemount team. We had to work through it. We can’t win every game by 10 goals, especially in the South Suburban Conference."