PHOTOS: Hermantown Hangs On To Win In 7-6 Overtime Thriller To Advance To Championship

Despite mounting an early 4-0 lead in the first period over the Mahtomedi Zephyrs, the Hermantown Hawks Boys Hockey Team would need overtime to punch their ticket to the 2024 Class A State Championship at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

The Hawks went up 4-0 by the end of the first period, with River Freeman starting the scoring flurry in the opening frame that would also see goals from Jack Slattengren, AJ Francisco, and Weston Bohlman.

The Zephyrs began mounting their comeback in the second period, scoring three goals, which included two powerplay tallies, all while Hermantown found the net only once in the period as AJ Francisco scored on a Hawks powerplay at the 10:37 mark in the middle frame of regulation.

The third period saw both teams trade goals early in the period, with AJ Francisco scoring his third goal of the game during the period and Mahtomedi evening the score at 6-6 with a pair of late-period goals in the final moments of the third period.

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The game went to overtime, where Hermantown's River Freeman broke the tie with his second goal of the game as the overtime period entered the final seconds, giving the Hawks the 7-6 overtime victory to advance to the Class A Championship game on Saturday afternoon.

The Hawks advance to play St. Cloud Cathedral, who also won an exciting overtime game in the first matchup of the day for Semifinal Friday. Cathedral defeated Warroad 4-3 in overtime to set their date with the Hawks, who would win in the second game of the day.

Hermantown and St. Cloud Cathedral will hit the ice at noon on Saturday to compete for the 2024 Class A Championship. You can hear the game on the FAN 106.5 FM and stream it via the station website.