Moorhead Opens Title Defense With 4–1 Win Over Lakeville South

LPH Photo – Jeff Anderson

Moorhead Opens Title Defense With 4–1 Win Over Lakeville South

By Robert Brent

Defending champion Moorhead used two goals from Max Cullen and a late surge to defeat Lakeville South 4–1 in the Class AA State Tournament quarterfinals Thursday night.

Moorhead began the defense of their 2025 State Championship Thursday night, facing off against the Lakeville South Cougars in the opening round of the 2026 Class AA State Hockey Tournament.

The two teams played each other in the opening round of last year’s tournament as well. In 2025, the Cougars gave the Spuds a tougher game than many expected out of a #1 seed vs #8 seed matchup, going into the third period tied 4-4. Moorhead ultimately pulled away, but Lakeville South showed a lot of mettle in the contest.

Moorhead pulled away late again in this year’s matchup, booking their spot in the semifinal round of the Class AA tournament.

The Spuds’ offense was buzzing early in the game, controlling the lion’s share of shots on goal. Moorhead outshot Lakeville South 10-5 in the period, and many of those 10 shots were high-quality. Cougars’ goaltender Keaton LeGrande had a solid opening period.

Moorhead scored the lone goal of the first frame when Max Cullen streaked down the wing, cut to the middle of the ice, and wired a shot past LeGrande in a dizzying solo effort. 

Despite the deficit, the Cougars were once again showing Moorhead they wouldn’t go away easily.

Moorhead continued pouring pressure onto the Lakeville South defense, especially on a power play opportunity roughly halfway through the period. While the extra-man chance started well, the Cougars actually got one of their strongest chances of the game towards the end of their penalty kill. The 3-on-1 rush for Lakeville South didn’t result in a goal, and the game remained 1-0, Moorhead.

Max Cullen scored his second goal of the game to give the Spuds an insurance goal with just 28 seconds left. Cullen scored the goal on a one-timer in front of the net to put Moorhead ahead 2-0. 

The goal was a total shift in the makeup of the contest. The Cougars still had a chance to come back, but scoring two goals to tie the game in just a period against Moorhead is a tall task. Up to this point in the game, Lakeville South had managed just 11 shots on goal. To have hopes of tying the game, they’d need to manufacture a lot more offense in the third period.

Lakeville South cut the Moorhead lead in half early in the final frame on a goal from Tristan Lawrence shortly after the team had successfully killed off a Spuds power play. Lawrence picked the puck out of the air from a Roan Zielie shot and redirected it into the back of the net.

Shortly after, Moorhead committed a penalty to send the Cougars to their first power play opportunity of the game, giving them a huge chance to tie the contest. That opportunity got even more dangerous when the Spuds committed another penalty, giving the Cougars 1:36 of a 5-on-3 advantage.

The Spuds’ defense came up with their most crucial penalty kill of the season, preserving their lead with just ten minutes remaining in the game. 

Moorhead put the game away late, pulling ahead much as they had in last year’s matchup between the two teams. Joey Cullen scored the Spuds’ third goal before Tyden Bergeson completely iced the game by pushing the score to 4-1.

The Spuds will continue their title defense against the winner of the Andover vs. Edina game.

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