Tonka, Edina meet in state hockey semis tonight at the X

Tonight at 8 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, the Minnetonka and Edina High girls hockey teams will face off for the third time this season.

The stakes are higher for this game since the winner advances to the State Class AA Tournament title game at 7 p.m. Saturday. In previous meetings, the Lake powers have split. Edina won the first meeting 1-0 and Minnetonka won the second 3-2.

In first-round action Thursday, Feb. 22, Minnetonka edged Maple Grove 2-1 and Edina shut out Northfield 5-0.

As the No. 1 seed, Minnetonka drew unseeded Maple Grove. The Crimson, looking for an upset, went ahead 1-0 on a goal in the first period by Maddie Elfstrand, but that was their only goal of the night.

Allison Ryan of the Skippers scored at 6:41 of the second period with assists from Lauren Goldsworthy and Senja Leeper. Then, with only .9 seconds remaining in the middle period, Minnetonka captain Lindzi Avar scored the go-ahead goal on an assist from captain Kendra Distad.

Minnetonka outshot the Crimson 35-19 with Layla Hemp getting the win in goal.

“The one thing we have control over is our effort,” Minnetonka head coach Tracy Cassano said after the game. “We’re ready to play. Give Maple Grove credit for the way they battled.”

Allison Ryan talked about what it’s like to score a goal in the state tournament: “I was in shock. I didn’t know that the puck had gone in. Then Bella Finnegan yelled, ‘You scored! You scored!’”

Edina shut down the state’s leading scorer Ilya Poppe in its victory over Northfield. Reese McConnell, Edina’s junior goalie stopped two breakaways in the game - one of them by Poppe in the third period.

The Hornets were unstoppable on offense with a 39-8 edge in shots on goal.

Poppe talked about Edina’s defense: “They took away time and space everywhere on the ice.”

Captain Hannah Halverson scored her 27th and 28th goals of the season for Edina while teammate Whitney Horton scored her 20th and 21st goals. Brenna Prellwitz also found the back of the net.

“This was a full-team win,” Edina head coach Sami Cowger said in a postgame interview. “We have come together at the right time.”

In their last four games the Hornets have scored 30 goals. Meanwhile, their goalies, McConnell and Nora Hannan, have thrown up a wall in front of the net.