The Cadets have increased their lead early in the second period.  Sophomore Ryan Walters gets his sixth of the tournament, as he buried a wrist shot high on Willie Paul’s glove side from just inside the right faceoff circle.

Marshall has switched goaltenders, to junior Matt Messina.  Neither of the last two goals was Paul’s fault - both were wide-open shots from near the net - but coach Brendan Flaherty is likely just trying to change up his team’s luck.

A late goal at 16:21 of the first period has the Cadets on top 2-0 after one.  James Saintey got a chance on a loose puck in the slot, and he rocketed a slap shot home into the top corner of the net.

If the Duluth Marshall coaching staff believes in the old “you shouldn’t allow a goal in the first minute of the period or the last,” they’re really not going to be happy with this period.

The game started relatively un-physical, but a big blind-side hit by the Cadets’ Noah Gavin got things kicked off.  We’ve seen some pushing and shoving after whistles, and it’s likely to only get more chippy as the game wears on.

The Cadets strike early again, thanks to a backhander from Christian Isackson.  The sophomore, rushing into the zone on left wing, threw an innocuous-looking backhander from the left faceoff dot on net, but it snuck through for the game’s first goal.

The St. Thomas goal celebration turned into a five-player pileup, probably for good reason; the Cadets are flying now, they’ve got the energy in this game.

Justin Crandall picked up the assist on the goal.

We’re about half an hour away from dropping the puck on the Class 1A state championship game, between Duluth Marshall and St. Thomas Academy.  These two teams are familiar fixtures at the state tournament; both teams have been here four years running.  This is Marshall’s third consecutive title game; St. Thomas Academy was last in this game in 2006, when they beat Marshall 4-3 for the state championship.

Goaltending will be a key to this game; the Hilltoppers have been getting outstanding netminding from junior Willie Paul, who will start once again today.  Sophomore Kurt Altrichter will be between the pipes for the Cadets, and while he was slightly shaky on Wednesday against Little Falls, he was nothing but solid in yesterday’s victory over St. Cloud Cathedral.

Earlier this morning, Warroad took third place with an overtime victory over Cathedral.  Dane Shaugabay’s goal 3:38 into the extra period sealed the 2-1 win.

Four goals in the final 2:33 of the game made this one look more lopsided than it was.  That said, after the Rams’ apparent goal was waved off five minutes into the period, they never really got back into the game.

Joe Phillippi was outstanding for Hill-Murray, making 34 saves in the victory.  Isaac Kohls led all scorers with four points, but that includes a pair of empty-net goals.

Hill-Murray moves on to face Edina in tomorrow’s state championship game, at 7 p.m.  It’s a rematch of the 1988 state title game, which the Hornets took 5-3.  For all their tournament success, the Pioneers haven’t had much luck in the title game - they’ve finished second six times, more than any other school except Moorhead (also 6).  Edina, on the other hand, is 6-2 all-time in state championship games - 9-3 if you count the days of Edina East as well.

I’ll be back at noon tomorrow for the Class 1A championship game between St. Thomas Academy and Duluth Marshall, and of course I’ll be here tomorrow evening for the Class 2A game between Edina and Hill-Murray.

That’ll do it from the Xcel Energy Center here in St. Paul; good night.