Now with six goals at state tournament, Grand Forks Central's Chase Spicer sets the tone in 6-0 win over Fargo South/Shanley in semifinals
Feb. 27—With six goals in two games, Grand Forks Central senior forward Chase Spicer is seemingly scoring from everywhere during this week's North Dakota state tournament.
On Friday night, he even scored while laying on his back.
Spicer scored 30 seconds into the game and once more in the first period while sprawled on the ice on his back as the Knights rolled Fargo South/Shanley 6-0 in the state semifinals at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
"I just tried to bring the puck to the far side and their defenseman came right up on me, and I don't know what happened but I ended up on my back," said Spicer, who followed up his four-goal quarterfinal performance with two more against the Bruins. "I saw (Bruins goalie Zach Sandy) and there was about a foot of open space. I got it on my stick, and it was awesome."
Central (21-2-1) will play the winner of the late semifinal between Grand Forks Red River and West Fargo in the state championship game, which begins at 6:45 p.m. Saturday at REA.
The Knights, who lost to Red River in the state semifinals last season, will play in their fourth state championship game in the last five years, as Central won three-consecutive state titles from 2017-2019.
The Bruins (14-8) will play in the third-place game at 12:30 p.m.
"Missing out (on a state championship berth) last year ... you know, that wasn't a good feeling," Central coach Grant Paranica said. "I think we have a lot of guys on the team that remember that. We've got nine seniors, and they talked specifically about that feeling and wanting to get back there, so hopefully that serves as motivation."
The Knights outshot South-Shanley 15-1 in the first period, led 4-0 and essentially wrapped up a state championship berth with a dominant first period.
Spicer started the scoring when he hopped on a rebound created when linemate Joey Kennelly beat a Bruins defender and had the puck knocked away at the top of the crease. The carom went right to Spicer for the easy tap in.
At 4:34, the Knights made it 2-0 with a power-play goal from Kennelly. Linemate Braden Panzer had a tough time corralling the puck on the end line but somehow managed to poke a puck to Kennelly at the doorstep.
Dom Gerszewski made it 3-0 when he sniped a shot at 11:30 of the first. At that point, Central led 3-0 and shots were 9-0, despite an early Bruins power play.
Spicer put the finishing touches on the dominant first period when he was tripped up around the crease. His own rebound came back to him while he was laying on the ice and Spicer had enough awareness to get a shot on net for a goal at 14:01 of the first.
"A great individual effort," Paranica said. "He just stayed with the puck. A lot of guys lose focus when they fall down. He stayed focused on the puck and kept with it. That's pretty special."
Gerszewski, a junior forward, scored his second of the game to make it 5-0 with a power-play goal at 16:29 of the second.
Senior defenseman Joey Riskey pushed the lead to 6-0 with an easy tap-in power-play goal after a nice seam pass from defensive partner Carson Seng.
Central's only loss to a North Dakota opponent came to the Bruins in a 2-1 defeat back on Dec. 29. So the Knights were aware of South-Shanley goalie Zach Sandy, who entered with a 94.8 save percentage, which was the best in the state among starting goaltenders.
Sandy finished with 30 saves.
"We wanted to jump on them right away," Spicer said. "We know Sandy is a really good goalie. We knew if we can get one or two early, it's a lot easier to play with the lead against these guys."
GF Central 6,
Fargo South/Shanley 0
First period — 1. GFC, Chase Spicer (Joey Kennelly) :30; 2. GFC, Kennelly (Braden Panzer, Spicer) 4:34; 3. GFC, Dom Gerszewski 11:30; 4. GFC, Spicer (Panzer, Kennelly) 14:01
Second period — 5. GFC, Gerszewski (Connor Litzinger) 16:29
Third period — 6. GFC, Joey Riskey (Carson Seng, Litzinger) 14:05
Goalie saves — GFC: Kolby Elseth 1-9-7 — 17, Jack Jahnke x-x-0 — 0; FSS: Zach Sandy 11-7-12 — 30
