Prep boys hockey: Duluth East gets ‘Coopered’ in section final

The Greyhounds led by a goal the first time around — a game East won 5-1 — and were locked in a scoreless tie after the first period Friday.

Then Cooper Conway happened.

Gavyn Thoreson scored less than two minutes into the second period and Conway scored less than 90 seconds later to put the Greyhounds in a 2-0 hole. Conway scored three more times in the second period to put the Huskies up 5-1 headed into the third period.

“He’s Coopered a few teams this year,” Andover coach Mark Manney said. “We call Cooper a weapon — he’s not great skating up the ice like Thorson and (Cayden) Casey, but when he gets the puck on his stick, he’s dangerous. We wouldn’t mind if he shot every time. Sometimes he tries to be fancy like the other guys, but he’s a weapon. He just needs to get pucks to the net.”

“We were feeling each other out in the first period, then the defending state champions played like state champions,” Pitoscia said.

After Conway’s first goal, he came back three minutes later with a shorthanded goal that put the Huskies up three and the Greyhounds were grasping for answers.

Clint Austin / Duluth News Tribune

“I think our team got off to a slow start,” Conway said. “We were looking to take it to them, we don’t ever want to give up on a game. We know we can score, we have that offensive ability to do that. So we always look to score whenever we can and when it comes, it comes a lot.”

East’s Grant Winkler scored about eight minutes into the second, but Conway scored twice more in the second, with K.J. Sauer and Casey both scoring early in the third to clinch the game.

Even with the loss, the Greyhounds’ turnaround was impressive. Last year, East struggled to just eight wins and lost to Grand Rapids in the section quarterfinals.

After a 1-4 start this season, the Greyhounds (20-7-1) finished by winning 19 of their last 23 games — including that 5-1 win over Andover Dec. 20.

“It all starts with our seniors,” Pitsocia said. “Some of them have been here since eighth and ninth grade. They’ve kind of been through hell when it comes to East hockey. For whatever reason, the last few years, East hockey hasn’t been what it was. To see these guys take this program and not be OK with that and want to put it back in the right direction — I’m as proud of that as I am of anything and it’s driven by the guys in that room.”

East’s Cole Christian had only one assist against Andover, but the senior’s 62 regular season points was the second-most for the program in the last 25 years and his improved play was the linchpin of the Greyhounds’ comeback this season.

“That’s the difference between last year and this year,” Pitsocia said. “Last year he led our team in penalties and this year he led our team in scoring. That shows how much he’s matured this year from last year. I think part of it is, he had the ability to be the leader. Because of his age and the way USA Hockey stuff works, he was always playing up with those older kids and this was the group of friends and now he’s had a chance to really be the leader and he took it and ran with it.”