The Moorhead Spuds are one win away from back-to-back state titles. Senior forward and Mr. Hockey finalist Tyden Bergeson finally got his team on the board when he scored with 15:55 remaining in the third period Friday night to break a scoreless deadlock. Moorhead then added two more goals down the stretch to beat Edina 3-1 in a Class 2A state semifinal at Grand Casino Arena. “It feels great,” said junior forward Zac Zimmerman, who had one of those final two goals. “Just knowing how special it is – like last year with 20,00 people there (for the state championship game) – and to be playing for your community. “I’m ready to do it again.” The Spuds (26-3-1) take on Minnetonka (26-2-2) at 7 p.m. Saturday. The Skippers defeated Rosemount 4-3 in overtime in Friday’s other semifinal. Minnetonka handed Moorhead one of its only three losses, winning 4-2 when the two teams met in the regular season on Dec. 20. “It’s going to be a challenge,” Spuds head coach Jon Ammerman said. “They’re extremely physical. Their defensive corps is big, strong and skates well. There wasn’t a lot of easy ice (in the first meeting).” The Spuds and Edina met in the Class 2A semifinals last season, a game Moorhead won 4-3, and again in this season’s opener on Nov. 21 – a game the Spuds won 6-3. Friday, though, neither team got on the board through the first two periods. Moorhead junior Max Cullen appeared to break the stalemate with 4:42 to play in the second, but the goal was disallowed on review due to an offside call. “They’re such a talented and skilled team,” Edina head coach Curt Giles said. “They have depth. It’s not like they have three or four talented kids up front who can move the puck and make plays. They’ve got six or eight of them, and three of four defenseman who can do the same thing. So we knew it would be a real battle to try and contain them as much as we possibly could. “We tried to keep them off the boards as much as we possibly could. We tried to take as much space away from them as we possibly could. It worked well until we started to get a couple penalties toward the end and they kind of got some momentum.” The Spuds indeed had a 4-on-3 advantage to end the second period and at the start of the third. That expired, but on the four-on-four with another delayed penalty on Edina resulting in an extra attacker, Bergeson scored to put his team in front. “We have a lot of dynamic guys with the puck,” Ammerman said. “In big moments, special players make those plays.” Zimmerman and senior Michael Herman followed with goals to put the game out of reach. Edina got a late goal from senior Alex White with 1:15 remaining. The two teams had to be separated after a brief clash following the closing horn, but neither expected to lose anyone for their games tomorrow. And the end result means it is Moorhead returning to the 2A title game where it beat Stillwater 7-6 for the first state championship in program history a year ago. “I was really impressed with our team start to finish tonight,” Ammerman said. “It was an outstanding game.” Related Articles Boys hockey: Minnetonka rallies in Class AA semis, defeats Rosemount in OT Boys hockey: Mahtomedi unable to crack Hibbing/Chisholm goalie in Class A state semis Wisconsin state hockey: Jane Volgren scores four straight to lead St. Croix Valley Fusion to final Boys state hockey: Edina defeats Andover in quarters on McConnell hat trick Boys state hockey: Lakeville South ousted by Moorhead in 2A quarterfinal ...read more read less