23 Feb 19
Twin Cities
Annie Kuehl would love to say she knew exactly what she was doing in a high-pressure situation with a spot in the state championship game on the line.
“The cool answer is to say yes,” the Edina senior forward said.
But that wouldn’t be true. With the Hornets and Minnetonka tied 1-1 in the final minute of the Class 2A girls hockey state semifinals at the Xcel Energy Center, Kuehl was just doing what players are taught to do — get to the net, fire pucks on goal and see what happens.
With 38 ticks to play, her backhand slipped through, giving the Hornets a 2-1 victory and their third straight state championship game berth.
“I think I grew a few gray hairs through that game,” Edina coach Sami Reber admitted.
Edina (26-4) was the dominant team throughout. The top-seeded Hornets limited fifth-seeded Minnetonka (15-14-1) to two shots over the final two periods. It looked like Edina’s lone goal — a score off the stick of Vivian Jungels in the first period — would hold up.
But an unlikely hero stepped up for the Skippers. Josie Helling was a late add to Minnetonka’s roster for this postseason run. Her name isn’t even in the state tournament program. But she found the back of the net to tie the game with four minutes to play.
“Our girls never quit,” Skippers coach Eric Johnson said. “They kept battling just like they had all year long, and we’re proud of the effort that they had.”
Still, it wasn’t quite enough to derail Edina’s path to a potential three-peat, a goal the Hornets are now just one win away from achieving. Edina will play third-seeded Brainerd in Saturday night’s title game.
[related_articles location=”right” show_article_date=”false” article_type=”automatic-primary-section”]Reber admits she’d like to see a little more offense in that contest. Friday wasn’t exactly a Picasso for Edina’s high-powered offense, but the coach credited her players for recognizing the lack of offensive production and compensated with a lock-down defensive effort.
“For us to be back to where we want to be, I’m so proud of the girls,” Reber said, “but we’re not done yet.”