Rogers boys hockey defeats Champlin Park to reach first MSHSL state tournament in school history

The Royals won the Class 2A, Section 5 Minnesota high school boys hockey tournament

Rogers' Parker Deschene on the puck as a sophomore for the Royals. He's now a senior and headed to the 2025 state tournament. / Earl Ebensteiner

ELK RIVER, Minn. - The No. 1-seed Rogers Royals defeated the No. 3-Seed Champlin Park Rebels 4-3 in the Minnesota high school boys hockey Class 2A, Section 5 championship Thursday night at Furniture and Things Community Event Center. Rogers will go to its first MSHSL state tournament in school history.

There’s a phrase plastered all over the Rogers' social media pages reading, “A hockey program, not a truck stop off Highway 94.”

For the trio of Mason Jenson, Nolen Geerdes and Parker Deschene, they helped give that proclamation substance.

• Minnesota high school boys hockey section tournament scores, champions (2/27/2025)

The three had stuck with the program since they were mites, building it up brick-by-brick, and they were rewarded for that tonight.

“Those are my best friends. We’ve been that way since we were six years old; we push each other to be the best,” Geerdes said. “And the competitiveness between us is unreal. “I love those guys to death.”

It was Geerdes who gave the Royals a picture-perfect start, scoring just three minutes into the game, using a plethora of moves to net one past the Champlin Park goaltender.

“That's what all the summer training is for, all the offseason training, so when you get into those moments, it's your second nature,” Geerdes said.

It was Deschene and Jenson later for the Royals, assisting on a Keaton Weis goal early into the second period to make it a 3-0 game.

For Champlin Park, though, it just kept digging.

Heading into the third period, head coach Tom Potter had a message to his team. Staring down the barrel of a three goal deficit with just one period to go, he kept it candid with his group in the locker room.

“We just told them, ‘You guys can sit out here and feel bad for yourselves being down three, or you can go out there and put the pedal to the metal for 17 minutes and see what happens,’” Potter said.

It only took 30 seconds for Potter to find out his group picked up his message. Cole Perkins found the back of the net off the Rebels first rush to get them within two goals. Then, Nick Carlson cut things to one just over a minute 24 seconds later.

Then it was the Royals turn to dig deep.

On the back foot for nearly the entire third period trying to defend their one goal lead, Rogers did what it had to do to get the job done. A team mostly known for its prolific goal scoring, instead had to finish things on the defensive end.

“You have to find ways to win,” Rogers head coach David Brown said. “Our guys bought in. They blocked shots when it was time to block shots, stalled pucks when it was time to stall pucks."

When the Royals needed it the most in waning seconds, it was the trio who stepped up.

“Nolen Geerdes played the best game of his life. I'm so proud of that kid,” Brown said. "Parker and Mason, to lock it in at the last minute, it's so fun to see how many guys shined bright today.”

A city formerly known as a truck stop can now call itself home to section champions over two decades later.

“Twenty-one years ago someone saw a vision for this program,” Brown said. “To get it done for all those people who built it long before I was the head coach, hopefully they can be proud of this community and the 20 guys who got this job done.”

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