Class 2A state girls hockey: Edina defeats Hill-Murray to claim fifth state championship
The pile of equipment covering the ice perfectly encapsulated the story of redemption.
After a couple of years away, the Edina girls hockey team is back atop the mountain.
In a highly competitive Class 2A final on Saturday night at Xcel Energy Center, Edina officially earned a 2-0 win over Hill-Murray to claim its fifth state championship.
As the game wound to a close, the Hornets couldn’t contain their excitement, piling onto the ice before the final seconds ticked off the clock. With her players soaking in the moment, Edina head coach Sami Cowger burst into tears on the bench before hopping onto the ice to join in the celebration.
“This year has not been an easy road for us,” Cowger said. “We had our ups and downs. There were a lot of learning moments along the way. I could not be more proud of this team.”
The difference proved to be a goal from Edina junior forward Whitney Horton. There was also the beautiful goal from Edina sophomore forward Lorelai Nelson to seal it.
It’s fitting that both goals from Edina were worthy of a spot on SportsCenter. With the way Hill-Murray senior goaltender Grace Zahn was playing between the pipes, it became pretty clear that it going to take something special to gain the upper hand.
Whether it was her confidently standing tall between the pipes to thwart a breakaway attempt, calmly brushing away a redirection amid chaos in front, or aggressively leaving the crease to deny a scoring chance, Zahn proved to be up to the task whenever danger presented itself.
Asked about the result postgame, Hill-Murray head coach John Pohl heaped praise on his players, before admitting, “I think we ran out of gas.”
The game might have gone differently if the Pioneers could’ve played with the lead. They certainly came out on fire in the first period looking for it. They just couldn’t find the back of the net.
“We’re the type of team that if we get the first goal the game comes better to us,” Pohl said. “We just couldn’t get the first goal tonight.”
The ice slowly started to tilt in the second period as the speed of Edina senior Hannah Halverson proved to be a problem. She generated offense seemingly every time she touched the puck and the game might’ve gotten out of hand had it not been for Zahn standing on her head to keep the game scoreless.
“You can’t even put it into words what she means,” Pohl said. “To me, she was the star of the tournament.”
That trend continued into the third period until Edina finally broke through. After struggling to solve Zahn for most of the game, Horton accepted a perfect pass from Nelson backdoor on the power play and hammered a puck into the back of the net.
Not to be outdone, Nelson made a move for the ages a few minutes later, dangling a pair of defenders in front before ripping a shot top shelf to add some insurance.
“It was absolutely amazing personal skill,” Zahn said. “She deked a bunch of people in front of me and put it right into the corner. It was a great shot. I couldn’t say anything about it.”
As much as people have talked about Zahn the player over the past week, Pohl was quick to bring up Zahn the person postgame.
“She has tons of high level hockey in front of her, and things that are going to impact the world and help people when she someday stops playing hockey,” Pohl said. “She is a far better person than she is a player.”
As for Edina, its climb back to the top proved it’s going to continue to be a force to be reckoned with for years to come.
“Anything is possible if we can continue to build that culture,” Cowger said. “We are capable every single year.”
Indeed.
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