Your White Bear Lake Bears advanced to the Section 3AA Semifinals after a tense 3-2 victory over the Ponies of Stillwater at Aldrich on Saturday. The Bears looked to have things in hand after the first period, having taken a 1-0 lead just a minute into the game when defenseman Zach Hansen jumped up into the slot and buried a wrister top shelf. The Bears were also dominating in shots after one, nearly tripling the Ponies offensive output despite spending a significant amount of time in the box. This biased officiating continued in the second period, but sophomore forward Jake Hanson turned some grit in front of the net into the Bears' second goal of the night, pounding home his own rebound.

But before the Bears could turn this game into a rout, the officials called "shenanigans" and turned the momentum. 30 seconds before the second period came to a close, a Stillwater player scored on a breakaway with a rocket from above the circle. Just moments before the shot, however, another Stillwater player checked a WB forward into the Stillwater bench and proceeded to make several efforts to dump his legs over the boards, which would probably be a penalty. The officials talked it over for several minutes but decided to let the goal stand. Midway through the third period, Stillwater scored on a bogus power play, one of many ridiculous penalty calls that kept White Bear shorthanded for much of this game. With the score tied 2-2, Stillwater kept the pressure on and had several scoring chances, but the Bears' netminder Zach Faust was equal to the task. The last few minutes of the game belonged to White Bear who hit the post a couple of times and finally buried a goal on the power play. The goal was scored by Jimmy Kovacs on a pretty feed from Mr. Hockey Finalist David Grun. In the final minute, after Phil Housley pulled his goalie, White Bear had five or six excellent chances to score an empty netter, but each attempt went just wide, and the game ended with a 3-2 victory for the Orange and Black. Final shots were 35 - 21 for the Bears.

The victory earned the Bears a date with #10 ranked Centennial. Also in Section 3AA, Hill-Murray put a whooping on Mounds View to advance to the Semis against Roseville, who blanked a talented but young North St. Paul squad (watch out for them next year!). The Bears play at the Colliseum on Wednesday at 8pm. To follow the whole secional picture, here are some brackets. For banter and chatter visit the MN High School Hockey Forum.