The last time Rochester Mayo won a Kiwanis/Home Federal Festival championship, most of the players on this year's team were still in diapers and maybe were on double-blade skates.
Some weren't even born yet.
That was December of 1998.
Mayo can put an end to that drought today.
The Spartans topped Northland Pines (Eagle River, Wis.) 5-3 in a Festival semifinal on Tuesday night to earn their third trip to the tournament title game since 2007.
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Mayo came close in '07, falling 6-5 to Buffalo in a back-and-forth game. Two years ago, the Spartans fell to Eastview 7-2.
Something has to give tonight, when the puck drops in the championship game at 5:15 p.m. at Graham Arena I. Mayo (8-2-0 overall) will face New Richmond, Wis. (6-2-0), a tournament mainstay that hasn't won the championship since 2003.
"We have the opportunity," Mayo coach Lorne Grosso said. "This team works so hard. To see them work and put in that effort ... I hope for these guys that that success continues."
Mayo jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period on Tuesday, as Thomas Krause scored just 3:34 into the game, then Anthony Oliveto added a pair of goals five minutes apart late in the period.
Northland Pines (4-6-0) battled back, though, scoring twice in the second period to pull within 3-2.
Mayo sealed its trip to the title game in the third, when Joe Hornsby scored on a breakaway and James Johnston scored on a shot through traffic from the point on a five-minute power play.
Eagles forward Connor Cox scored just 12 seconds after Johnston, but Pines couldn't get its goalie pulled for an extra attacker until the final 20 seconds and Mayo held on for the victory.
Mayo's defense didn't allow the Eagles to sustain any pressure throughout the game, with veteran defensemen Johnston, Dylan Boysen and Nick Norby leading the way.
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"Those guys played a lot last year," Grosso said. "This year, they're growing as great leaders and improving every day."
Mayo 5, Northland Pines 3
Northland Pines#0#2#1#—#3
Mayo#3#0#2#—#5
Northland Pines: Connor Cox 1 goal, 1 assist; Carson Cox 2 assists; Nick Dean 1 goal; Noah Wittkopf 1 goal; Bailey Ramesh 1 assist; Gabe Hartwig 21 saves.
Mayo: Anthony Oliveto 2 goals; Joe Hornsby 1 goal, 1 assist; Thomas Krause 1 goal; James Johnston 1 goal; Lincoln Priebe 1 assist; Logan Haskins 1 assist; Jack Ryan 1 assist; Clay Edwards 1 assist; Nick Norby 1 assist; Chris Wileman 19 saves.
New Richmond 2, JM 1
New Richmond (Wis.) has a chance to win its first Festival title since 2003 today, thanks to a 23-save performance from junior goalie Adam Dilley.
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The Tigers received goals from Kole Hallmark and Jake Singerhouse, and Dilley made those stand up to help his team improve to 6-2-0 overall.
Hallmark opened the scoring 8:53 into the game, when he pounced on a rebound of a Brady Maus shot and put it past JM goalie Brady Meyers, who played another strong game with 38 saves.
The Rockets (5-7-0) tied the score just 57 minutes into the second when Paul Cyr scored with assists from Giuseppe Curry and Logan Braun.
But the Tigers regained the lead when Jake Singerhouse scored on his own rebound at 10:12 of the second.
JM had a goal disallowed late in the period, as the officials ruled the puck was kicked into the net during a scramble in front of Dilley.
"Brady played another good game," JM coach Jay Ness said, "but our defensive zone coverage needs to be better. The bottom line is, again, our compete-level needs to go up across the board."
JM will face Northland Pines for third place at 3 p.m. today.
"It would be nice to get two wins here and go into the new year feeling good," Ness said.
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New Richmond 2, JM 1
New Richmond#1#1#0#—#2
John Marshall#0#1#0#—#1
New Richmond: Kole Hallmark 1 goal; Jake Singerhouse 1 goal; Brady Maus 1 assist; Adam Dilley 23 saves.
Rochester JM: Brady Meyers 38 saves; Paul Cyr 1 goal; Giuseppe Curry 1 assist; Logan Braun 1 assist.
Century 6, Ashwaubenon 0
Senior forward Erik Thorvilson assisted on four of Rochester Century's six goals to pace the Panthers in their 6-0 shutout victory against Ashwaubenon (Wis.) in a consolation game.
Century (6-4-2) led 3-0 after one period and 5-0 after two. The Panthers outshot the Jaguars 41-9.
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Connor Davies scored twice and was the only Panther to record more than one goal, as 11 Century players got on the scoresheet.
John Zwarych, Pat Bower, Will Zmolek and Riese Zmolek scored once each for Century. Riese Zmolek and Bower also had one assist each. Todd Miller made nine saves to record his first varsity victory.
Century will face Park (Cottage Grove) at 12:45 p.m. today at Graham I for fifth place. Ashwaubenon will face Dodge County at 10:30 a.m. for seventh place.
Century 6, Ashwaubenon 0
Century#3#2#1#—#6
Ashwaubenon#0#0#0#—#0
Rochester Century: Erik Thorvilson 4 assists; Connor Davies 2 goals; Pat Bower 1 goal, 1 assist; Riese Zmolek 1 goal, 1 assist; John Zwarych 1 goal; Will Zmolek 1 goal; Alex Ney 1 assist; Ryan Sherden 1 assist; Eric St. Marie 1 assist; Mitch Hoover 1 assist; John Schmitz 1 assist.
Ashwaubenon: David Michaelson 35 saves.
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Park 8, Dodge County 1
Park scored the first five goals of the game and rolled to its first victory of the season, 8-1 against Dodge County in a consolation semifinal game.
Sam Barnes led the Wolfpack (1-8-1) with two goals and an assist. Jason Miner, Nick Kamnikar, Ryan Newpower and Nick Lucas had one goal and one assist each. Twelve players recorded at least one point for Park, which outshot Dodge County 41-14.
Chris Roberts scored the lone goal for Dodge County (3-9-0).
Park-CG 8, Dodge County 1
Dodge Co.#0#1#0#—#1
Park-CG#3#3#2#—#8
Dodge County: Chris Roberts 1 goal; Max Kundert 1 assist; Mitch Sobotta 33 saves.
Park-Cottage Grove: Sam Barnes 2 goals, 1 assist; Jason Miner 1 goal, 1 assist; Nick Kamnikar 1 goal, 1 assist; Ryan Newpower 1 goal, 1 assist; Nick Lucas 1 goal, 1 assist; Austin Lovro 1 goal; Bryce Solberg 1 goal; Tervor Montez 1 assist; Gavin Foote 1 assist; Cole Beaton 1 assist; Jordan Strand 1 assist; Dylan Coulter 13 saves.
