A four-goal lead after one period was not nearly enough for Moorhead.

Because Stillwater put quite a late scare in the Spuds.

Mason Kraft tied a state record by scoring four times in a five-goal first period, and the Spuds held off Stillwater 7-6 in the Class 2A state boys hockey semifinal Saturday night at Xcel Energy Center.

It’s the first time Moorhead is returning up Interstate 94 to Northwest Minnesota with championship hardware in nine title game appearances.

Charlie Stenehjem finished with 26 saves for the top-seeded Spuds (28-2-1), who also got goals from Brooks Cullen, Brandon Mickelson and Zac Zimmerman.

All were needed because a pair of goals by Matthew Volkman got the Ponies within one with 3:20 to play. With a pulled goalie, the bulk of the final minute was in the Moorhead end, but the equalizer was not to be.

Luca Jarvis and Trey Fredenberg also scored twice for Stillwater, but a lopsided opening 17 minutes was too much to overcome.

Still, the second-place finish is the best in school history. The Ponies’ only other tournament appearances were 2014 and 2016.

The 13 goals scored tied a state record for the most in a championship game. Warroad beat Red Wing 10-3 in the 1996 Class A championship.

Kraft, a Minnesota State Mankato commit and Mr. Hockey finalist with 46 goals and 49 assists for the season, banked a shot off a defender’s skate just 1:22 into the game, and deked a defender before snapping home a wrist shot at 1:34.

A pretty passing play with Tyden Bergeson and Carver Hasbargen led to Cullen making it 3-0 at 2:24, and Stillwater was forced to use its time out.

Kraft completed his hat trick with another wrist shot at 12:08 and, after Jarvis redirected a pass from Volkman to get Stillwater on the board, Kraft struck again. This time he converted a pass from Zimmerman with 40.6 seconds left in the period for a 5-1 lead.

Kraft, who hit a post in the second period, finished the tournament with nine goals. He also had four in Thursday’s quarterfinal win over Lakeville South.

The early offensive onslaught came against a Ponies defense that shut out Andover in the quarterfinals and St. Thomas Academy in the semifinals and hadn’t allowed a goal in more than 104 minutes. The seven goals allowed by Stillwater (24-7-0) is a season high.

The Ponies got within 5-3 in the second and 6-4 and 7-5 in the third before Volkman’s wrist shot went off a Moorhead defender at 13:40 of the third period to make it a one-goal game.

Hornets take third

Mason West and Freddie Schneider each had a goal and assist as Edina (22-7-2) beat St. Thomas Academy 4-3 for third place. The Cadets (24-7-0) got goals from Thomas Kertz, Michael Mikan, and Nicholas Russ.