Swaim’s double-OT winner lifts Edina to third straight Class 2A state title

After more than 60 minutes of exhausting end-to-end hockey, Edina (27-4-0) outlasted Brainerd/Little Falls (25-5-1) to claim its third straight Class AA state girls’ hockey championship. The Hornets’ Olivia Swaim scored on the team’s 55^th shot of the game, 2 minutes, 20 seconds into the second overtime to give Edina a 4-3 victory.

On the game-winning play, freshman defenseman Vivian Jungels held in a Brainerd clearing attempt and threw a shot on net. Racing out of the corner, junior Tella Jungels screened Brainerd goaltender Olivia King, who still kicked out a leg to make her 51^st save of the night.

But the rebound trickled up the slot right to the stick of Swaim, who buried it into the open net, setting off a wild celebration.

An exhausted Swaim threw her arms around Tella Jungels in relief, while the rest of the Hornets sprinted off the bench and plowed into the pair. On the bench, coach Sami Reber held her head in her hands, a disbelieving smile on her face.

“You just have to give it your all every shift, because you just never know,” said Swaim.

The victory may have seemed pre-ordained to many, as the Hornets were the two-time defending state champions and the high-powered top seed in the tournament. Their puck control was strong throughout the game, as they outshot the Warriors 55-20. But the plucky Warriors proved tough to solve.

Edina had to rally from a one-goal deficit three different times to earn the victory.

After Cheyenne Abear opened the scoring for Brainerd less than two minutes into the game, the Hornets’ Sophia Doll countered with a goal to tie it at 1-all. Later in the first period, Abby Pohlkamp scored for the Warriors, but Vivian Jungels wrapped in a power play goal to knot the score at 2-all after one period.

Emma Booth gave Brainerd a brief 3-2 lead early in the third, but Tella Jungels tied it up with 11 minutes remaining. All three Edina goals in regulation came on the power play, as the Hornets were 3-for-8 with the advantage.

The state title was Edina’s third in a row, tying Minnetonka (2011-13) for the most consecutive girls’ hockey championships.

“It’s hard to back up one state championship, but two is even harder,” said senior C.C. Bowlby, a Miss Hockey finalist who was part of all three championship runs for the Hornets.

“People doubted us from day one, but we never doubted ourselves,” agreed Reber, citing numerous detractors who had Blake ranked ahead of the two-time defending state champion Hornets.

Swaim, also a part of all three title teams, claimed the third championship was the most difficult. Not the least of which was because of the efforts of King and a rugged Warriors’ defensive effort.

King repeatedly stonewalled the Hornets, getting better as the game went along. She gave the Warriors the belief they could win the game according to head coach Jim Ernster.

“Her poise and her leadership were so tremendous,” said Ernster.

But the 55^th shot proved impossible to stop.

“We made history, finally winning the first one two years ago,” grinned Bowlby. “To keep it going is just unreal. To do it my senior year and finish off with a win and a blue medal around my neck is unreal.”

Class AA All-Tournament team

Peyton Hemp, F, Andover

Lauren Stenslie, F, Maple Grove

Brynn Dulac, G, Minnetonka

Lacey Martin, F, Minnetonka

Maggie Nicholson, D, Minnetonka

Olivia King, G, Brainerd

Cheyenne Abear, F, Brainerd

Sophie Robinson, D, Brainerd

Gabbie Smith, F, Brainerd

Mallory Uihlein, D, Edina

Annie Kuehl, F, Edina

Vivian Jungels, D, Edina

Photo Gallery by Tim Kolehmainen of Breakdown Sports USA for Minnesota Hockey Magazine. Follow Tim on Twitter @BreakdownUSA.

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(MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

King powers Brainerd to Class 2A Final 
 
Midway through the first period, Brainerd was about to try and kill off a 5-on-3 for one minute and eight seconds against a high-powered Andover offense while trying to preserve their 1-0 lead. But to successfully kill off the penalties, the Warriors were going to need a herculean effort from their senior goaltender Olivia King.  
 
For one minute and eight seconds, Brainerd got exactly what they wanted as King stood tall in goal and did not allow one puck past her, including a huge pad save with 10 seconds left on the penalty. Some goalies might wilt under the pressure of getting peppered as King did for 68 seconds, but she prefers to see a lot of shots and got more comfortable as they kept coming in. “It’s exciting to get a lot of shots,” she said.   
 
“It was huge,” Brainerd coach Jim Ernster said of the 5-on-3 kill. “This is the time of year when seniors and goaltenders win games for you.” 

King finished with 38 saves in a 3-2 Brainerd win that took overtime to settle.
 
King credited the team’s play all season on the penalty kill before making a quip about penalties by saying, “We seem to [take] a lot of penalties,” that even got a postgame chuckle from her coach.  
 
The Warriors – specifically King – did not relent in two periods and took a 2-0 lead into the third. 
 
“To keep them at bay for two periods is really important,” said Ernster of Andover’s offense. 
 
Meanwhile, Andover was not about to let themselves get down despite not getting a puck – 29 shots through two periods – past King in the Brainerd goal. “We were not letting out heads hang,” said Andover forward Hannah Stauffeneker. “We were not feeling sorry for ourselves [at that point].” 
 
However, Andover did make a comeback in the third as they scored six minutes into the period and tied up the game with just over six minutes to play. The Huskies nearly won the game with a minute to play as King once again was called upon to make a sprawling save with Andover on a breakaway. 
 
The save sent the game into overtime where it took all of 10 seconds for Brainerd to score the winner – off the stick of Cheyenne Abear – and send them to the Class 2A finals Saturday night to play the winner of Minnetonka/Edina. 
 
With his senior goalie now in the spotlight, Ernster said of his goalie being on the state’s radar, “I sure hope so [that everyone has taken notice]. I’ve seen a lot of good saves over five years.” 

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So naturally the storyline heading into the Brainerd/Little Falls Warriors and the White Bear Lake Bears quarterfinal game at the Class AA 2019 state tournament was all about goaltending. Both netminders had strong numbers and low scoring was anticipated.

Frank hadn’t allowed a goal since the regular season and had stopped all 115 shots in section play.

Meanwhile, Warriors goaltender Olivia King had a GAA of 1.66 in the regular season.

But it was Brainerd who cracked the code and ended up scoring a pair of first period goals five-minutes apart; ending Frank’s impressive shutout streak in a 4-0 win.

“One of the things we did stress was that we needed a good start,” said head coach Jim Ernster after the win. “Anytime you can start out and score first, that’s a huge advantage. Especially for us because coming down the stretch of sections we were struggling a bit to score.”

Frank admitted she got beat on the first goal by Warriors senior Cheyenne Abear, but wanted the second one back.

“For sure the second one,” said Frank, who faced 39 shots in the loss. “I ramped up my stick a bit and it’s just a fluky goal and I don’t really have those. So I should’ve had that one. They capitalized on their chances and there’s nothing much more I could do.”

Frank will continue her career at Minnesota State Mankato, where she’ll play college hockey but she was happy to lead White Bear Lake back to the tournament.

“Just getting to the tournament I think is pretty amazing. We haven’t gone since 2002 and just being here is great. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

Meanwhile at the other end of the crease, King was happy to show the metro schools what northern hockey is all about.

“Here, we’re northern and people think we live in Antartica,” said King. “So it’s pretty nice to come to the cities and beat these teams and show what it’s like to play northern hockey.”

Brainerd will face Andover in the Class AA semifinal’s on Friday. Both teams made the tournament last year, but departed in the first round. Now, the two teams will be playing for the rights to go the Class AA championship.

“The experience of having been here last year helps you settle into the whole process,” said Ernster. “And also having played against them, there’s that sense of familiarity and anytime you’re familiar with an opponent, that just gives you a bit more level of comfort as well.”

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