Moorhead holds off Stillwater to win Minnesota's Class AA hockey tournament

Originally posted on Bring Me The News | By Joe Nelson | Last updated Mar 8, 2025 10:42 PM ET

After an overtime thriller in the Class A state championship game between East Grand Forks and Hibbing/Chisholm, the Class AA title tilt had big skates to fill—and Moorhead and Stillwater arguably filled them with a high-scoring game that went down to the wire.

In the end, it was the No. 1 Moorhead Spuds defeating the No. 2 Stillwater Ponies in a battle featuring two schools that had never won a boys' state hockey championship. The star was Mason Kraft, who scored four times in the first period to set the tone for the night.

Stillwater appeared dead in the water after falling behind 5-1 in the opening period, but they kept grinding, twice rallying to cut the deficit to two and then making it a one-goal game with plenty of time left in the third period.

Moorhead hangs on to win the state Class AA championship pic.twitter.com/eGygFdt16e
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) March 9, 2025

The first time the Ponies trimmed the lead to two (5-3 in the second period), the Spuds answered 20 seconds later to suppress Stillwater's momentum.

When the Ponies cut the deficit to 6-4 just under four minutes into the third period, Moorhead had the answer, adding a goal for a 7-4 lead with precious seconds ticking away.

But Matthew Volkman scored twice amid a tireless Stillwater attack — once with 7:23 remaining and again 4:20 to play — to make it a one-goal game. They just couldn't claw all the way back.

Volkman makes it a one goal game on the deflection!!! pic.twitter.com/9BBoPkH7rz
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) March 9, 2025

Kraft was a beast. The Mr. Hockey finalist lit the lamp just 82 seconds into the game, and then he scored again 12 seconds later. Brooks Cullen netted a goal 50 seconds after that for a 3-0 lead, and then Kraft completed the hat trick at 12:08 of the first period. Kraft's fourth goal of the period came at the 16:20 mark.

Make that 4 goals for Mason Kraft in the first period pic.twitter.com/ErcfSDxLYJ
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) March 9, 2025

Most goals scored in a period by an individual:

John Mayasich, Eveleth: 1951 quarterfinal vs. Williams, 1st period

Mason Kraft, Moorhead: 2025 championship vs. Stillwater, 1st period
— Heather Rule (@hlrule) March 9, 2025

Kraft led the 2025 state tournament in scoring with nine goals and one assist. Coincidentally, his father, Ryan Kraft, led the state tournament in scoring in 1994 with eight goals and one assist for a Moorhead team that lost in the championship game to Bloomington Jefferson.

Volkman, Luca Jarvis and Trey Fredenberg scored two goals apiece to lead the Ponies.

This article first appeared on Bring Me The News and was syndicated with permission.

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