Long after the Edina players were gone, Rogers' players were still on the ice.

Many had their heads in their hands. Some were trying to comfort each other. Goalie Wyatt Knott was getting up, having fallen to the ice and staying there a couple of minutes after the game-winning shot went past him.

A 2-1 loss in overtime was a heartbreaking end to the Royals’ first state tournament appearance.

“When you have a senior class that’s this special, you don’t want it to ever end,” head coach Dave Brown said, choking up. “That’s what’s pushed them this far. This group has responded to adversity every time it’s hit the entire season.”

It was a strong team performance Thursday night, one that Brown called “one of the best games we’ve played.”

In the end it wasn’t enough, but that doesn’t mean the Royals’ first state tournament didn’t make its mark on them.

“The past six days since that Champlin Park [Section 5 championship] game is something nobody in that locker room will ever forget,” said senior forward Mason Jenson. “We’ve had the best week of our lives."

At the risk of overusing the phrase, what a game. Reigning champ Edina found the slight edge over first-timer Rogers in Thursday night’s Class 2A quarterfinal, burying a puck in overtime to take the game 2-1.

It was a battle from the very beginning, with two teams who have a lot of fight in them. After a scoreless first period, Edina cracked four minutes into the second, when Jenson put Rogers on the board. Bode McConnell hit back for Edina, and then things fell quiet. The scoreboard sat at 1-1, deadlocked into overtime.

It was a physical, aggressive game, and eventually one of desperation as each team pushed for the winner.

Edina got it as overtime wound down. Junior forward Caleb Pittsley was the Hornets’ hero, swiping in the night’s last goal to keep his team alive another day.

“I just ripped it,” Pittsley said with a smile. “Wasn’t really thinking, was pretty tired, and it just went in.”

Edina finishes it in overtime and advances to Friday's semifinals. A shot off the stick of Caleb Pittsley settled it. Next for the defending champion is the top seed, Moorhead. 

Pittsley took advantage of a turnover at the blue line, skated to the right faceoff circle and snapped a shot into the goal at 6:55 of overtime.

We’re heading into overtime here at the X. Neither side was able to break the 1-1 deadlock in the third period, despite two Rogers power plays.

Edina had one of the closest shots of the night in the final seconds of regulation, getting the puck within inches of the net to the groans and cheers of the crowd. Hornets players skated off in visible frustration, unable to stop what was coming next — overtime. Here we go!

Two periods down. The first-timers and the reigning champs are now all tied up, and it’s anyone’s game. Tensions are running high, the crowd is loud, there’s one final period to break away — it’s classic tournament hockey.

Edina has outshot Rogers 19-13 through these first two periods, and goalies in both nets have been successfully working to keep this score low. For the Hornets, that’s junior Chase Bjorgaard. He doesn’t lead his team in minutes in goal — it’s most often Wyatt Spindler out there for the Hornets. But Bjorgaard’s goals-against average this season (1.58) is pretty enticing.

For Rogers it's Wyatt Knott between the posts. He's saved 90% of shots faced this season and madeg 18 saves tonight.

The Hornets even things up as the second period winds down. Freddie Schneider drove up the middle before swinging the puck out to the right faceoff circle, where Bode McConnell snapped it into the Rogers goal at 14:00 of the second period. We’ve got ourselves a game.

Rogers lights the lamp first, to the raucous applause of much of the X. The first point was put in by Mr. Hockey finalist Jenson, after Weis sent the puck to him out front from behind the net. It was Jenson’s 43rd goal of the season.

The large Rogers student section, clad in blue to match their players, erupted into chants of “Mr. Hockey” that the Edina student section quickly countered with chants of  “That was lucky” and "Sit down, shut up."

In the words of Moorhead head coach Jon Ammerman, Thursday night was a “tale of two teams” for his squad — one team that was outscored and outpaced in the first half of the game, and one team that scored five goals straight in the second half.

How did the Spuds make the turnaround?

Junior forward Tyden Bergeson said it was partially just keeping their heads up while facing circumstances they weren’t used to — like trailing by two goals.

“We just had to stay positive on the bench,” he said. “We’re not backing down, we’re not going away, we’re not shying away. It’s the state tournament here. Big stakes.”

“It’s what Tyden said: Just stick to the game plan,” Ammerman agreed, denying there were any large strategic adjustments that led to Moorhead’s sudden change in play. He never lost confidence in his team.

“To have one period, with the season on the line, we liked our chances,” he said.

From Lakeville South’s perspective, Moorhead’s resurgence in the second half was heartbreaking.

Two calls didn’t go Lakeville South’s way in that final period — one that confirmed a Moorhead goal and one that overturned a Cougars goal — and the Cougars struggled to get back on their game.

“Our goal was to wear them down,” said Lakeville South head coach Josh Storm. “But looks like they wore us down.”

No goals, no penalties and not much to report from the X. The Hornets and Royals are tied at seven shots on goal apiece through that first period, and not one has made it in. Onward!

The puck has dropped!

On the Rogers side, keep an eye on Mason Jensen. The Ohio State commit is the Royals’ leading scorer with 42 goals and 43 assists and was recently named to the Star Tribune’s All-Minnesota boys hockey team. He’s one of Rogers’ two Mr. Hockey finalists, alongside skilled defenseman Nolen Geerdes. (Point of Royals pride: Rogers is the only school with two finalists this year.)

For Edina, Mason West leads Hornets in scoring with 23 goals, and Casey Vandertop leads in assists with 38.

This will be a battle of two high-scoring offenses: Edina has averaged four goals per game this season and Rogers has averaged almost six, so we may see a lot of pucks hit the back of the net tonight.