Mar. 4—ST. PAUL — Nolan Steele wasn’t one of the Dodge County boys hockey players selected to come to the press conference after the Wildcats’ 4-1 loss to top-ranked Hibbing/Chisholm in a Class 1A state quarterfinal game Wednesday.
But both of his linemates were there.
And his coach.
And when the subject of Steele’s third-period goal was brought up, all of them smiled.
“He’s a freshman, a young guy, a great player,” Steele’s linemate and Dodge County senior captain Gabe Coshenet said. “He’s someone you’re going to want to watch.”
Though the Wildcats didn’t advance to the state semifinals — they’ll play at 10 a.m. Thursday in a consolation semifinal at 3M Arena at Mariucci — their freshman standout gave them a memory that can be added to the mental state tournament scrapbook of Dodge County fans.
Steele’s goal will find a spot somewhere near Brody Lamb’s six-goal state quarterfinal game against Hermantown and his hat trick three days later in a state semifinal win against Little Falls. And it might even find its way into the corner of the same page as Zoe Heimer’s state championship-winning goal for the Wildcats’ girls team a year ago.
By the time Wildcats co-head coach Bryce Wilcox, goalie Wes Wegner and Steele’s linemates Coshenet and Camryn Koch left the post-game press conference, video of Steele’s goal was zooming around the Internet and social media faster than his slapshot.
The play occurred with 3:16 to go in the game and the Wildcats trailing 4-0. Sophomore defenseman Maxwell Hain moved the puck to junior D Braylon Fredrickson, who sent it toward Steele, who was positioned at the top of the crease. Steele grabbed the puck with his back turned to Bluejackets goalie Gavin Lamphere, then in one motion spun, slid the puck backward between his legs, then put his stick blade between and behind his skates and fired the puck into the top of the net.
“We were down at that point,” Coshenet said. “We know he’s going to (make plays). It was cool to have something like that happen.”
Steele took a forearm to the back from Bluejackets defenseman Jackson Strukel just after his shot, then popped back up to his feet and bumped fists with his teammates while shaking his head like he couldn’t believe what he had just done, especially in a state tournament game being broadcast to a state-wide audience and streamed worldwide.
When asked if he taught Steele that move, Wilcox shook his head “no” and laughed.
“I wish,” said Wilcox, who was a standout defenseman on the Rochester Century teams that went to state in 2005 and 2007. “I’m a defenseman — a stay-at-home defenseman.”
The goal was Steele’s 19th of his stellar freshman season. He also has 28 assists, for 47 points.
Video of Steele’s goal was posted by a half-dozen popular Minnesota hockey ‘X’ accounts, and it was shared by the SportsCenter Next ‘X’ account — ESPN’s home for high school sports highlights and notes.
The ‘X’ post from @SCNext read: “Nolan Steele just did THIS as a freshman in the Minnesota Boys State Hockey tournament” followed by a fire emoji and the hashtag #SCTop10, which is used by fans and teams to submit highlights of plays that could make it on SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays of the day.
