Feb. 21—GRAND FORKS — For the first time in more than 35 years, the North Dakota state boys hockey tournament will see the Fargo Shanley sweaters.
In its first season as a stand-alone co-op in more than 15 years, Fargo Shanley earned a trip to the state tournament for the first time since 1989 with a 2-1 win over Fargo North on Saturday afternoon in an East Region tournament state qualifier at Purpur Arena.
"I know there are a lot of Shanley alums that love to see the Shanley shield and have a lot of pride in it," Shanley coach Mark Olsonawski said. "But one thing I just said to the boys in (the locker room) is without our partnerships with Oak Grove, Park Christian and Capstone in the future ... we wouldn't have a Shanley Deacons hockey program."
Shanley previously competed with Fargo South as Fargo South-Shanley. Fargo South now partners in a co-op with Fargo North.
The Deacons reached state by shedding any bad memories from the region semifinals, an 11-1 loss to No. 1 Grand Forks Central.
"One thing our coach says all the time if we have a bad game is to flush it," said Shanley goalie Jack Furstenau, who finished with 16 saves. "It's in the past. So that's exactly what we did."
After a scoreless first period, the Deacons took a 2-0 lead on a pair of second-period goals. Aaron Meyer scored at 2:05 of the middle period, followed by Noah Oksendahl at 14:30.
Meyer scored his eighth goal of the season and has now scored a goal in four consecutive games.
"We came into the season and a lot of teams looked down on us because we were new," Meyer said. "No one thought we'd do well. This is huge. It really shows how far we've come this season."
North was held off the scoresheet through a five-minute major called on the Deacons to start the third period.
"We know we have a good PK," Meyer said of the penalty kill. "We know we can shut it down. We knew if we kill this off, we win it."
But the Spartans set up a tight finish after Jack Bartsch scored with 3:10 remaining to cut the lead to 2-1.
Furstenau made his toughest save with 10 seconds to go with the Spartans pressing with an extra attacker.
"He didn't get tested a lot but some of those chances were Grade A, and he came up big," Olsonawski said.
North goalie Dominic Crocker finished with 25 saves.