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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Defense Propels Edina To Third Straight Championship Game 
 
In their previous encounter on January 26th, Edina and Minnetonka ended up having a 5-4 shootout with the Hornets coming out on top. Friday night in the Class AA semifinal, that nine-goal game was a distant memory. 
 
Edina held Minnetonka to just two shots on goal in the final two periods, including none in the second, while needing a goal with 38 seconds left to secure a 2-1 win and giving them a chance at a three-peat Saturday evening against Brainerd. 
 
“We eliminated their shots, our gaps from our defense were good, our forwards weren’t trying to be cute in the D zone,” said Edina coach Sami Reber on her team’s defensive play in the hockey game. Reber’s opposite number, Minnetonka coach Eric Johnson, also paid respect to the Edina defense after the game. “They took care of the puck. Got the puck in deep. Made it hard for us to break out and get through the neutral zone,” Johnson said. 
 
Reber also added that the suffocating defensive play was not the initial game plan, but once it became apparent that the game was headed that way the team decided to dominate the play defensively before anything else.  
 
But while the Hornet defense was suffocating in this hockey game, Edina hung onto a 1-0 lead for most of the game as they could not get another puck by Skippers goaltender Brynn Dulac who made big save after big save to

Minnetonka’s Josie Helling is all smiles after scoring her first ever varsity goal which tied the Skippers state tournament semifinal game with Edina at 1-1 late in the third period on Friday night at Xcel Energy Center. (MHM Photo / Tim Kolehmainen-Breakdown Sports USA)

just give Minnetonka a chance to tie it up. 
 
While Dulac – who finished the game with 24 saves in total – was making save after save, Minnetonka was able to tie up the game with 4:14 to play in the third as Josie Helling scored her first ever varsity goal – on a well-placed top-shelf backhander – to put the game and chance at a three-peat in doubt for Edina. 
 
Helling called the goal the highlight of her career as she reflected postgame.  
 
“[We were] frustrated for a second,” said Edina’s Annie Kuehl on Minnetonka’s tying goal. “If anything, it motivated us as we dominated the end of the period.” 
 
As Kuehl said, Edina snuffed out any attack from Minnetonka after the goal through the end of the game. That strong defense allowed her to score the game winner with 38 seconds left and send Edina on to the final.  
 
“It was a fun goal,” Kuehl said postgame. 
 
The Skippers made a late push with the goalie pulled, but it was not enough to break through the solid Edina defense.  
 
With sights on a third straight title, Reber wanted to see a few more goals in Saturday’s Championship against Brainerd, which got an impressive performance from their goaltender Friday night as well. “I would like us to generate some more offense in the game tomorrow,” she said. “We really thrive on our offensive skill.” 

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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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Minnetonka’s Lacey Martin watches as her third period shot eludes Maple Grove goaltender Lucy Morgan for a 5-2 lead in the Skippers’ 7-4 Class 2A state tournament semifinal win over the Crimson on Thursday at Xcel Energy Center. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson).

Minnetonka avenges early-season loss to Maple Grove
 
In late November, Minnetonka lost to Maple Grove 3-2 in overtime.  But this time around it was the fifth-seeded Skippers who had the last laugh as they dominated No. 4 Maple Grove 7-4 in Thursday night’s Class 2A quarterfinal finale. 

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Edina’s Olivia Swaim (4) and Jane Kuehl (17) celebrate a goal in the Hornets’ 7-0 win over East Ridge in Thursday’s Class 2A state tournament quarterfinal contest. (MHM Photo / Tim Kolehmainen-Breakdown Sports USA)

Underclassmen jumpstart Edina in 7-0 win over East Ridge 
 
Seeking a third straight Class AA title, Edina got off to a rocky start against East Ridge in Thursday night’s quarterfinal at Xcel Energy Center.  
 
The Hornets took three penalties in the first period and saw East Ridge push the play as a result of being down a skater for a large chunk of the opening frame. But jumpstarting the Hornets Thursday night was not their top players, it was their underclassmen who got things going. 
 
Freshman Jane Kuehl put home a rebound at 7:30 of the first period to give Edina the lead, a lead they would never relinquish. “It’s a big deal. I don’t get that many goals,” quipped Kuehl postgame. “Having the underclassmen score got everyone motivated and psyched.” 
 
Edina would have just the lone goal in the first, but they got going and buzzed to a 7-0 win over the Raptors to secure a spot in Friday’s Class AA semifinal against the winner of Minnetonka/Maple Grove. A four goal second period put away any doubts or jitters that the Hornets had coming into the hockey game. 
 
Edina head coach Sami Reber credited the underclassmen for getting the team started postgame and credited the great depth on the team in being able to roll out three lines that can score at any moment. 

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Edina avenges loss to Centennial to repeat as state champions

St. Paul — After her team’s semifinal win over Eden Prairie on Friday night, Edina coach Sami Reber did not hide her excitement about getting another shot at Centennial, one of only two teams to beat the defending state champion Hornets this season. 

“I think if we could have picked the opponent we wanted to play in the state championship game, it would be them,” she said. 

 Top-seeded Edina (28-2-1) made the most of that chance in Saturday’s girls’ Class AA title game with a 2-1 win over No. 2 seed Centennial (25-4-1) to capture its second straight state championship. Edina closes the season with 14 consecutive wins.

Aliyah Lance’s goal just 2;39 into the third period snapped a 1-1 tie and proved to be the game winner as Edina goaltender Megan Smith made seven of her 13 saves in the final period to preserve the lead. 

Edina’s Lolita Fidler found Lance coming through the slot with speed and Lance did the rest with a slick move on a defenseman before roofing a shot over Centennial goaltender Mackenna Stoterau who finished with 25 saves.

“Our team is so talented with so many girls that all bring something to the table,” Lance said. “So to be able to be a part of that and just work as a team, just get the bunces going our way, it’s just great.”

Lance’s goal came roughly two minutes after Centennial’s Anneke Linser rang a shot from in close off the right post in the period’s opening moments. 

Emily Oden broke a scoreless tie 8:38 into the second period when her slapper from the top of the left circle beat Stoterau with the aid of a Lolita Fidler screen. Six minutes later, Centennial’s Gabbie Hughes who, along with teammate Linser and Edina’s Oden are Minnesota Ms. Hockey finalists, scored a power-play goal to tie it up heading into the final period.

Despite a 15-7 shot edge with only a goal and a tie game to show for it, Reber said the Hornets were almost giddy during the second intermission.

“We’ve been in situations like that before,” Reber said. “We had 17 minutes left of our season and, with seven seniors on the team and a big junior class as well, I know a lot of those girls were not going to have any regrets coming off the ice.”

there were no regrets for an Edina team which had a target on its back from opening night on.

“Coming back the second year, everyone’s out to get us” Oden said. “To defend it is super hard and to win it again is definitely special.”

The teams played to a scoreless first period in which the Hornets outshot the Cougars 7-2 with neither shot coming from Centennial’s top line of Hughes, Linser and Emily Nadeau. The trio entered the game with a combined 82 goals and 184 points on the season but, of the 24 shots they attempted against Edina, 16 either missed the net or were blocked.

“They really gave us a dogfight,” Linser said. “It was hard to get to the net and they were on us. We did what we could and we tried our best.”

The Hornets said the game plan against Linser and Hughes in particular was to be as physical as possible at the risk of taking penalties. 

“We spent a lot of time on how we were going to defend them but kind of just playing our own game, that’s all we can really do,” Edina defenseman Eva Hendrickson said. “We gave them the credit they deserved but, in the end, our players, I think, took it to them.”

“Physicality is something we definitely hype as a team and when you’ve got two players who you know are going to play a lot of minutes in a game, you want to wear them down as much as possible,” Reber added.

The Cougars complete the best season in school history with their first state championship game appearance and their heads held high.

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No. 2 Centennial vs. Eagan

Minnesota Ms. Hockey finalists, and Minnesota Duluth recruits Gabbie Hughes and Anneke Linser combined for nine points to lead second seeded Centennial to a 6-1 win over Eagan in their Class AA semifinal matchup on Friday night.

“They’ve been playing really good hockey all year long and stepping up in big games,” Centennial coach Kristina King said. “I didn’t doubt their abilities but I didn’t know they’d put so many goals up on the board tonight. It was fun to see.”

Hughes registered a natural hat trick by the 12:29 mark of the first period, with Linser assisting on all three goals, and added a fourth tally in the third. Hughes assisted on Allison Pitlick’s third-period goal to complete her 5-point night while Linser’s second period goal was her fourth point of the night.

Cougar goaltender MacKenna Stoterau saw her shoutout bid thwarted by Eagan’s Lauryn Roszak with 3:09 to play but finished with 22 saves. Maddie Nickell had 17 saves for the Wildcats.

“I think we were just in the right spots at the right times and we knew what to do,” Linser said. “We just kept doing it.”

What the Cougars  kept doing was coming through the slot with speed and open space, a recipe for disaster any time, but especially when facing Centennial’s lethal top line of Hughes, Linser and Emily Nadeau. 

“We knew that that first line had a lot of scoring power so we ended up, obviously, behind and then trying to work our way back,” Eagan coach Dan Wilson said. “When you give players like that that space they and take advantage of that so, more often than not, you’re going to see them put the puck in the net when you give them that space and those shots in the slot area.”

Nadeau appeared to get the Cougars on the board first when Nickell batted Hughes’ backhand shot up in the air with her blocker and the puck dropped down in front of her at the left post. Nadeau whacked at it but, despite heavy scrutiny by the replay officials, it was ruled to be Hughes’ goal.

“I personally think she got the goal,” Hughes said. “It was sitting there on the goal line and she was the one that crashed the net and banged it home and I think she deserves the credit for that one.”

While Centennial (25-3-1) has been to the state tournament three times, the last appearance coming in 2008, the trip to the title game is a historic one for the program.

“It’s the first one in Centennial history for us,” Hughes said. “I think it’s a huge honor to do it for our community and to do it for all the little kids that we see up in the stands. It’s just an unbelievable feeling.”

The Cougars beat both of the remaining semifinal contenders back-to-back in December (3-1 over Eden Prairie and 3-2 over Edina) but King isn’t counting on getting an advantage from those wins.

“It obviously gives us some confidence, and it gave us some confidence, but we forgot that,” King said. “It’s a whole different playing field.”

No. 1 Edina vs. No. 5 Eden Prairie

Top-seeded Edina earned a chance to repeat as Class AA state champions on Friday night with a hard-fought win over Eden Prairie. The Hornets outshot the Eagles 47-15 for the game but goaltender Alexa Dobchuck nearly stole the game for Eden Prairie (19-10-1) stopping 43 of those shots in Edina’s 4-2 win.

“I’d like to say it would be the first time I’ve seen it but I think I’ve seen it every day in practice and every game we’ve played for five years,” Eden Prairie coach Jaime Grossman said. “I’m definitely going to miss seeing that on a regular basis.”

Dobchuk’s remarkable performance included 22 second period saves, as state tournament record for saves in a single period. Edina needed a couple of deflections and balanced scoring to beat the Senior Goalie of the Year finalist as eight Hornets picked up points in the game.

“Edina’s a really good team and they always seem to play their best in the big spotlight,” Dobchuk said. “To be perfectly honest, those are the best games for me because I love taking shots and so I love playing Edina.”

Olivia Swaim, Brooke Tucker, Aliyah Lance and CC Bowlby scored for Edina while goaltender Megan Smith stopped 13 of Eden Prairie’s 15 shots. Crystalyn Hengler and Ava Wagner scored for the Eagles. 

“She always plays well against us, she always plays well in general,” Lance said of Dobchuck. “So to have 30 shots on her and not have one go in in a while, it’s definitely frustrating but it’s still motivating that we know we have to bear down and get one in there.”

Swaim opened the scoring with her 10th of the season on a deflection of a Evelyn Adams shot that eluded Dobchuk at 8:23 of the first period. The Hornets appeared to be heading to the dressing room for the first intermission clinging to that one-goal lead but Thursday night’s scoring hero for the Eagles, Crystalyn Hengler, would have none of that.

Smith was unable to control the rebound on a shot from Eden Prairie’s Sydney Langseth and Hengler pounced on it to score her 20th of the season with just 13.8 seconds remaining in the period. 

That did not sit well with the top-seeded Hornets as the defending state champions exploded out of the gate in the second period, dominating the Eagles to the tune of a 22-2 shots advantage. But Edina had nothing to show for it as Dobchuk was there time and again to deny the Hornets and keep her team in the game.

“You give up a goal with a few seconds left in a period, it’s never easy but we were tied,” Reber said. “We had dominated most of that period so we just wanted to keep the momentum going in our favor. We knew Dobchuk was hot tonight and so we just wanted to keep peppering her.”

All that peppering finally paid off for Edina just 2:20 into the third when Turner’s shot from the left point glanced off Eden Prairie defenseman Claire Kuipers and behind Dobchuk for a 2-1 Hornets lead. Six minutes later, Tucker set up Lance to give Edina some breathing room.

But just 10 seconds later, Smith struggled to control another Langseth shot and Wagner was there to pull the Eagles back within one. Eden Prairie made a push but came up short and Bowlby sealed it with an empty net goal in the final seconds. 

Grossman said he expected a closer, more back-and-forth game and feels like the spotlight may have been a bit to big for some of Eden Prairie’s younger players.

“You’ve got to give credit to Edina too because they’re good at taking you off your game,” Grossman said. “I think they did a good job of taking us off our game tonight and making us earn every inch. I think they were really physical with us and I think that got some of our kids off their game.”

Waiting for the Hornets (27-2-1) in the championship game is second seeded Centennial (25-3-1), one of just two teams to have beaten Edina this season. That 3-2 December loss only serves to motivate a determined Edina team.

“I love it,” Reber said. They’re one of two teams that beat us this year so we’re ready for then and we’re excited . I think if we could have picked the opponent we wanted to play in the state championship game, it would be them.”

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Minnetonka coach balances fun, competition to achieve success

When Minnetonka Skippers’ head coach Eric Johnson took over the girls’ program twelve years ago, they were in a transition period. Many girls were still playing in the boys’ program, and some girls were playing on the girls’ team. The program’s groundwork had been laid shortly before Johnson became the head coach.

“Our youth director at the time, Dan Phillips, was instrumental in getting more girls to play in the girls’ program,” said the former St. Cloud State forward. “We had kind of a ‘grassroots’ effort at recruiting kids who played soccer or other sports. We gained some traction when some of our top female hockey players made the switch from the boys’ program to the girls’.”

Johnson, who had previously coached boys at different levels, noticed early on he had to coach girls differently.

“We had to find ways to implement competition into practice,” recalled the Armstrong alumni. “They would do drills well, but incorporating more competition encourages creativity – they don’t have to follow the ‘rules’ or look to a coach to see if they’re doing the drill ‘right’.”

Balancing fun and competition is something Johnson and his staff stress to this day.

“We have an up-tempo, fun atmosphere in practice. We play music and let our players choose the playlist,” Johnson explains. “We emphasize passing, teamwork and communication. We push the pace in practice to make it feel as much like a game as possible.”

Johnson – whose program has won three state titles (2011, 2012, 2013) and finished second once (2015) in four state tournament trips since 2011 – typically ends practice with mini-competitions.

“These mini-competitions make kids think about, for example, how to win battles for the puck. We put something on the line – maybe the loser does five pushups or something. Our coaching staff aims to keep the drills and games challenging but fun.”

On and off the ice, the Skippers program has turned a tragedy into an inspiration.

“The character of our team has been largely shaped by the legacy of Kelly Phillips, an alum who was killed in a car accident in 2007,” Johnson said. “Kelly had a terrific attitude and was a great teammate. We award a player each season with the “Kelly Phillips Character Award” – which means putting the team first and making a positive difference in the time they have wearing a Minnetonka jersey. Our girls have really embraced the spirit of this award.”

Minnetonka (9-7-3) heads to Stillwater on Saturday to face the Ponies outdoors along the St. Croix River in a 5:30 p.m. game which will be televised live on Fox Sports North Plus as part of the the annual Hockey Day Minnesota event.

The Skippers bring with them a trio of players who will be playing at or near the DI level next year.

“Elizabeth Kubicek is a senior and is having a terrific season,” Johnson said. “She competes hard, communicates with her defensemen and reads the play well. Camille von Steinbergs is a strong skating defenseman with a heavy shot who is committed to Union next year. Emma Bigham is a senior forward who is committed to St. Cloud State. She is not only our leading scorer, but she is our best forechecker and leads by example.”

Those seniors have grown up in the Skippers’ program, and their willingness to continue to play the game and ability to improve encapsulates Johnson’s philosophy.

“If players have a good time they are going to continue to play the game. If a player improves, they have a good time. It goes hand and hand.”

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