Twice Thief River Falls came back from one-goal deficits to tie Warroad in Thursday’s 2009 Section 8A boys high school hockey tournament championship game at The Gardens. However, the Prowlers didn’t have enough time to answer when Brock Nelson scored on a rebound with just 1:53 remaining that gave the defending champions a 3-2 win and a third straight state meet trip.
    The loss ends a 21-5-2 season for the Prowlers, who brought an 11-game unbeaten streak into the finals. Three of those losses came at the hands of Warroad, who took the home-and-home regular season series 3-1 and 5-1.
    Warroad will take a 26-2 record and an 11-game winning streak into the Class A state tournament that begins Wednesday at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
    “We did what we wanted to do,” said Thief River Falls coach Tim Bergland in the Prowlers’ sullen locker room following the trophy presentations. “There weren’t a lot of good scoring opportunities either way. It was more a game of bounces, and they got some fortunate bounces.”
    Michael Pieper deflected in a shot by Tai Larson for a Warroad power play goal at 4:04 of the opening period for an early 1-0 lead.
 

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