Who might be in net next for Edina when they take the ice in the state final? The Hornets are lucky to have what coach Sami Cowger considers “the two best goaltenders in the state on our team” in seniors Nora Hannan and Reese McConnell.

Hannan, a St. Thomas commit saving 94.2% of shots faced, played in Edina’s 3-1 quarterfinal win over Farmington, making seven saves. McConnell (93.0% saves percentage) made 12 saves in the semifinal shutout against Holy Family. The pair split time this season and were two of the 10 semifinalists for the Jori Jones Award that goes to the top senior goalie in the state.

McConnell got the start when Edina played Hill-Murray for the title last season.

“We can trust either of them in a big game,” Cowger said. “Both of them have had opportunities to prove themselves, and they’ve done just that. … They have a great relationship, which helps, because it’s always tough, they’re competitive, they want to play, but ultimately, it’s made our team better in the end.”

In a 1-0 game, not many names get on the scoresheet. In this case, it’s Cate McCoy’s goal that was the difference for Edina, assisted by Libby Moe and Whitney Horton.

But what doesn’t show up on the scoresheet?

“Put goals and assists aside — those little things like winning faceoffs, blocking shots and getting pucks over our blue line, out of our key zone, those are what win championships,” said Edina coach Cowger. “That is what we instill in our girls.”

Senior captain and center Kaylee Idrogo-Lam was praised as a key example, her impact felt far beyond her two goals and 10 assists this season. She’s “an incredible faceoff winner,” said Cowger, with a team-high 11 wins against Holy Family. Those “little plays that are huge momentum-getters.”

“It doesn’t go unnoticed,” Cowger said.

“On our team, we talk about controllables a lot, which is attitude and effort,” Idrogo-Lam said. “How mentally strong our team is, we came out and controlled the controllables the best we could have, and I think it showed on the ice.”

It’s common, and completely understandable, for players to be a little more reserved when they speak to the media after losing in a state tournament. Three players and a coach will sit in front of microphones, given the tall task of rehashing what just happened.

But after losing in the semifinals to No. 1 seed Edina 1-0, No. 5 Holy Family’s players came in with small grins, pointing out how the setup looked like a pro team’s postgame news conference, reminding each other not to trip going up the stairs. They were disappointed, don’t mistake it, said head coach Randy Koeppl, “crushed” like any competitive, talented team like theirs usually is.

Yet, the Fire, making its first trip to the state tournament, also leaned on the idea that “you’ve got to leave it at the rink,” Koeppl said. At the rink, the coaching staff will demand excellence from the players, “working a lot on our d-zone” and playing high on the blue line, which showed against the Hornets.

Outside the rink, “hockey is not the end-all,” said Koeppl. The team has especially learned that this year, as their assistant coach Jason Jensen has been recovering from a head injury suffered on the ice that left him in critical condition last month.

“One thing I want to remember most [about this year] is the culture we've created,” said junior defender Katya Sander, asked to reflect on the season. “We've learned to rely on one another, look at our right and left in the bad moments. … Our determination and grit has been like something totally new.”

“We are playing for the people next to us, and that just created a really positive environment,” senior defender Casey Cronin said.

After earning a power play with 4:33 left to play, No. 5 seed Holy Family hunkered down in its offensive zone late. Through a physical last five minutes, senior Josie Linn — the Fire’s leading scorer and a New Hampshire commit — had close chances, as did defender Sander.

But the No. 1 seed Hornets’ defense, which conceded just 1.11 goals per game this year, held fast, then weathered another Holy Family power play, this one 6-on-4, in the final minute. Edina goalie Reese McConnell made a sprawling 1-on-1 save to snuff out Linn’s close-range shot with 21 seconds remaining.

Junior forward McCoy’s goal, tipped in early in the third, remained the difference for the defending champs, which outshot the Fire 27-12. 

An Edina victory means that both the Class 1A and 2A finals are rematches of last year’s title games. Warroad will look to four-peat in a rematch against Dodge County, and Hill-Murray hopes to avenge a loss to Edina.

Hornets sting first! Just 39 seconds into the third period, sophomore defender Moe rips a shot from behind the left faceoff circle. In a jumble of net-front traffic, junior forward McCoy gets the deflection. That's the Dartmouth commit's 19th goal of the season.

Still scoreless here for all the late-night hockey watchers following along. Holy Family had its closest looks with 11:30 left to play, but Edina senior goaltender Reese McConnell parried away the two back-to-back shots. McConnell and the other half of Edina's goaltending duo, St. Thomas commit Nora Hannan, were both semifinalists for the Jori Jones Award, given to the senior class' top goalie.

Edina is still outshooting the Fire, 18-5 — shots coming from across the front lines, but its closest chance waved off for goaltending interference. Otherwise, it's been a physical period that's felt closer than the shots suggest. 

In the quarterfinals, the No. 1 seed Hornets let No. 8 Farmington hang on deep into the third period, 2-1, until an open-netter gave Edina its third goal.

If Holy Family can manage another upset, it will be the Fire's second in as many weeks. They knocked off the top-ranked team in the state, Minnetonka, with a 2-1 overtime win in the section championship game.

The lamp has stayed dark so far. Holy Family’s junior goaltender, Kayla Swartout, has stopped all 10 of Edina’s shots early on. She’s a future Wisconsin Badger, playing behind a future Gopher on the blue line, junior Sander.

On the other side of the ice, the Fire have only gotten off two shots. The period ended with Holy Family senior Maddy Morrell in the penalty box for another 85 seconds when the puck drops for the start of the second period.

Hill-Murray took its time switching up its forward lines at the beginning of the season, experimenting with combinations of skaters as any good team might.

“We like putting kids in different positions. We think that challenges them,” said co-head coach John Pohl.

After Christmas, Pohl put the original lines back together. The so-called green line, made up of sophomores Emily Pohl, Jaycee Chatleain and Elliana Engelhardt, was, surprisingly, not clicking. The Pioneers suffered four of their season's six losses in the next stretch of eight games.

“Sorry, Jay,” John said to Chatleain, who sat next to him Friday night at the postgame news conference.

But the other two lines were playing so well together that the coaches knew they had to keep the green line together so that the other lines wouldn’t be broken up. And good thing for the Pioneers, because the green line found its groove and has scored nine of Hill-Murray’s 10 goals in the state tournament. Pohl scored her 40th and 41st goals of the season against Rosemount — fourth-most in the state this year.

“They are dynamic,” John Pohl said. “They are probably as good as any line.”

“We're all kinds of different players, but off the ice, we're all really good friends,” said Chatleain, who scored two goals in the semifinal. “We hang out, we're in the same friend group, so I think that just builds us closer. And I played with Emily in the summer, and [Elliana] is just such a good person that everything just [works].”

But for as many points as the green line puts up, Pohl praised Hill-Murray’s depth and said the Pioneers’ defensive core is “absolutely underrated.”

“[Junior] Josie Skoogman is an all-state defenseman. She's been to U18 national camps. [Junior] Kasey Senden is a Division I recruit, five-year varsity player. I think Addy McClay is the best defensemen in the state in the sophomore class, and I think Olivia Braunshausen is the best freshman defenseman in the state,” John Pohl said. “I honestly do think we are a complete team.”

Our final game of the night is up next: No. 1 seed Edina vs. No. 5 Holy Family. 

The Hornets are the defending Class 2A champs, and if they win, it means that both Class 1A and 2A finals are rematches of last year's championship games. The Fire are making their tournament debut and beat Moorhead 3-1 in the quarterfinals.

These teams met in December, with Edina taking a 4-2 win.

The only thing scarier than the blazing speed of Hill-Murray’s skaters should be that all of its state tournament goal scorers, thus far, have been sophomores or younger. Get used to seeing this crew contend for titles.

Hill-Murray was most evident on offense, outshooting Rosemount 48-19. 

Forward Emily Pohl added to her quarterfinal hat trick by opening the scoring for the third-seeded Pioneers in the first period. After a hopeful equalizer for the seventh-seeded  Irish was overturned on an offside call, sophomore Elliana Engelhardt netted her second goal of the tournament.

Sophomore Audrey Boll breathed some life into Rosemount’s chances, cleaning up a rebound with 15 minutes to play. But the Pioneers added two more in the third period — first, a Jaycee Chatleain goal, then another weaving chance created and finished by Pohl.

A late goal from Rosemount senior Annalee Holzer, tipped in with 2:16 left to play, gave the Irish another burst of energy. But Chatleain’s second goal of the night — and her 22nd of the season — with 50 seconds left to play put an exclamation mark on the night for the Pioneers, who skated off with a return ticket to the Class 2A title game, where they finished as runner-up to Edina last season.