John’s Journal: Two Sports, Two Big Games For Mahtomedi’s Bohmert

Corey Bohmert knows all about performing at state tournaments in big arenas. Yes, tournaments and arenas … plural.

The Mahtomedi High School senior and his teammates will play in the Class A boys hockey state semifinals on Friday, mirroring what he and his Zephyrs football teammates did last fall. Bohmert is a strong example of a multi-sport athlete, with the latest testament coming via the hat trick he scored in Mahtomedi’s 6-3 win over Alexandria in Thursday’s Class A boys hockey state quarterfinals at Xcel Energy Center.

Mahtomedi will meet Hermantown in Friday’s state semifinals. The Hawks defeated Luverne 6-0 on Thursday.

During the football season, Mahtomedi reached the Class 5A state semifinals, where the Zephyrs lost to eventual state champion Elk River 38-21 at U.S. Bank Stadium. In the state quarterfinals, Bohmert rushed for 284 yards and three touchdowns in a 20-14 victory over St. Thomas Academy. He finished the season with 2,338 rushing yards and 28 touchdowns,

Mahtomedi coach Jeff Poeschl, who was a three-sport athlete in high school at Hill-Murray, said of athletes involved in multiple sports, “I think it's tremendously important. I just think that the ability to cross over and bring that competitiveness and the things that you learn in one sport and allow it to carry over to the next sport is invaluable.”

Bohmert came into Thursday’s game with 11 goals in 28 games this season. He scored even-strength goals in each period against Alexandria. He was credited with four shots in the game, giving him a 75 percent accuracy rate.

“Cory’s about as honest a hockey player as you're going to find,” Poeschl said. “He's a hard worker. He's humble. He's skilled. And to be honest, for about at least the last month, he's had great opportunities but he's been a little snake-bit. We've been telling him, and he's been telling us, he's saving them for when they count. And so I couldn't be more pleased that he was rewarded, because he wasn't just rewarded for the hard work today. I think it's a reward for the hard work that he’s put in the whole season.”

Mahtomedi outshot Alexandria 48-18 in the game. The Cardinals’ Elijah Rasmussen stopped 42 shots and the Zephyrs’ Charles Brandt – also the quarterback on the football team – had 15 saves.

After his second big performance in as many state quarterfinals (in two sports), Bohmert was asked if this stage of the postseason is special.

“I don't know what's up with that,” he said, “but I'm just hoping to get a better semifinal outcome.”

Getting Hot At The Right Time

In Hermantown’s win over Luverne, the Hawks’ first goal was scored by senior Aaron Evjen at 6:28 of the opening period. Seventy-one seconds later the score was 3-0 on goals by River Freeman and Evan Gunderson.

Evjen, who had four goals in the regular season, has exploded in the postseason. He scored the winning goal in a 3-2 victory over Hibbing/Chisholm in the Section 7 semifinals and has five goals in four playoff games.

“It's an amazing feeling to come through for my team when they need me,” he said. “I’ve got to give credit to my linemates, Sam Swenson and Mason Sundbom (also seniors). They made great plays for me.”

Hawks coach Patrick Andrews said, “Aaron is a heck of a hockey player in his own right. He’s been a big part of this group all the way up since squirts. He’s played with all these guys all the way up. When we have some of the names we have in this program, you might get overshadowed name-wise, but Aaron’s a huge part of what we do. The kids that play two years of JV for a chance to play one year of varsity; he’s Hermantown hockey through and through, his family’s from Hermantown. He’s as blue and gold as they get and it’s really fun to see Aaron come through for us.

“He’s an amazing human being, a 4.0 student, he checks all those boxes. To see him come through for us when it matters the most is so awesome.”

The Honor Of Playing At State

The Luverne boys hockey team duplicated the accomplishment of the Cardinals girls team, which played at state two weeks ago.

“I really believe that our team knows what an honor it is to be here and what it took to get here,” said coach Patrick Paquette. “Many of them didn't know if this was in the cards for them, and the way they worked through the section and the way they've dealt with that (was impressive)."

Alexandria senior Tyler Kludt scored the Cardinals’ first goal of the tournament at 7:59 of the first period against Mahtomedi, tying the score 1-1.

“It's an adrenaline rush for sure,” he said of scoring at state. “You know, it's kind of what you want to do to start the state tournament, especially as an underdog. It was nice to put them on their toes a little bit and give people a reason to know why we're here.”

--MSHSL media specialist John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at [email protected]