The horn sounded, and the Blaine Bengals stormed the ice after upsetting fourth-ranked Benilde-St. Margaret’s 6-5, handing the Red Knights their second consecutive home loss. In another high-scoring game, the Red Knights were not able to pull out the win after giving up six goals and being shut down in the third.

After taking an early 2-0 lead in the first period, it looked like the defending state champs would blow out the Bengals, but with one of the fastest teams in the state, Blaine pulled their way back and tied it up, scoring two unanswered goals. Just 13 seconds after the Bengals tied the game at two, Red Knight senior Seth Chumley came down on a rush and jammed a backhand shot past Blaine goaltender Bailey Ketola. Senior captain Grant Besse would add another at 16:30 of the period, with the assist coming from fellow senior Daniel Labosky. With a 4-2 lead going into the second, it seemed the Red Knights were in total control of the game, but the Bengals had an answer.

Blaine forward Tyler Cline cut the lead in half just 3:26 into the period, and Jesse Norling would tie the game almost six minutes later. The momentum was all leaning towards the fast and scrappy Bengals, but that all changed when Labosky came down the left side of the ice, and scored a highlight reel goal, dangling past Ketola with 54 seconds left in the period, and putting the Red Knights up 5-4.

The third period was emotionally driven, with questionable referee calls on both sides. There were numerous arguments between the coaches and referees ranging from controversial penalties and icings.

Blaine forward Joey Lau tied the game once Red Knights goaltender Andrew Sprang found himself out of position, and Lau wrapped around the goal, jamming it short side to even the score at five. Bengals captain Cline scored the game winner at 13:09 of the period, firing a rocket wrist shot past the glove of Sprang on the powerplay. BSM was unable to tie the game, and fell for the second straight time at the SLP Rec Center.