MAPLEWOOD — An even contest through two periods, Hill-Murray tipped the scales with three goals in the third to surge past Stillwater 5-2 in the finals of the Section 4AA girls hockey tournament on Thursday, Feb. 15 at Aldrich Arena.
The top-seeded Pioneers (24-3-1) captured their eighth section championship in the past 12 seasons, but this was the first since 2020. Stillwater (18-9-1) was seeking its first trip to state since 2021 and seventh appearance overall, but was unable to keep pace in the deciding third period.
Ponies coach Annie Cashman was disappointed with the result, but not the effort of a veteran team that featured 13 seniors playing in their final prep game.
“I couldn’t be happier with how we played,” Cashman said. “We needed to capitalize on a couple more opportunities.”
It was a back-and-forth game throughout, but Hill-Murray struck first in the third period as sophomore Sophie Olson scored at 6:16 to break a 2-all tie.
“The only thing that was disappointing is we won two face-offs right there, but didn’t get the puck out,” Cashman said. “We had opportunities to make a different play and when we didn’t they made a great play.”
Eighth-grader Olivia Braunshausen extended the lead just two minutes later to put the Pioneers in front 4-2 and senior Chloe Boreen added an insurance goal with 4:30 remaining.
“What surprised me more was the final score,” Cashman said. “It was a much closer game than that. We were right there and really close to knocking off the No. 2 team in the state and it’s certainly disappointing that we didn’t.”
Hill-Murray also defeated the Ponies 4-0 in a nonconference game earlier this season, but the Ponies struck first just three minutes into the game. Josephine Lang scored on an assist from Grace Cheney to provide a 1-0 lead.
“We started out so well for the first period and-a-half we were the better team,” Cashman said.
Boreen answered for the Pioneers with a power play goal at 8:04. Stillwater appeared to strike back less than a minute later, but an apparent goal was eventually waived off due to a high stick.
“Certainly that was a momentum switch for us, but we responded really well,” Cashman said.
The teams remained tied until 10:30 of the second when freshman Elliana Engelhardt put the Pioneers in front 2-1.
Brooke Nelson fired a shot that slipped past Pioneers goaltender Grace Zhan to pull even at 2-all with just over a minute remaining in the period. Josie St. Martin assisted on the goal, which was the final point of a decorated five-year varsity career.
It was the lift Stillwater needed after the Pioneers increasingly asserted themselves in the second period.
The Ponies also came out strong in the third, but were unable to find the net before Hill-Murray eventually did.
“Brooke’s goal couldn’t have been bigger and Josie’s first shift at the start of the third, if one of those shots or two goes in it’s a different game,” Cashman said.
Hill-Murray held a slight 32-29 advantage in shots on goal, with Ponies goaltender Lily Timmons finishing with 27 saves.
“It was a really well played hockey game,” Cashman said. “It was up and down, big plays and very few penalties.
“It was 2-2 and if someone would have asked would you take one period to get to the state tournament you’d take it every time. It just clearly wasn’t meant to be.”
Hill-Murray received the No. 2 seed for the state tourney was scheduled to face Roseau in a quarterfinal game on Thursday, Feb. 22.
The coach lamented some missed opportunities throughout, knowing nothing would come easy against Zhan, one of five finalists for the Jori Jones Award as the top senior goalie in Minnesota.
“We had three shots from left side where we missed the net, point blank shots that went over or missed the net,” Cashman said. “We had some opportunities, but their goalie is like the best in the state and we had to capitalize when we could.”
It was a disappointing conclusion to a season in which the Ponies were competitive against many of the top teams in the state.
“It was packed and really a fun environment for the kids,” Cashman said. “I’ve been coaching for 20 years and this is the hardest loss I’ve had as a coach. This is the one that hurt the most, but it means we had a really group of kids and a fun season and we worked really hard. I don’t think there’s anything else we could have done. The last seven minutes they played a little better and got a few more bounces than we got.”
The coach was proud of the team’s efforts on the ice and their time spent encouraging future Ponies in the Stillwater youth program.
“They’re special kids,” Cashman said. “When I went back into coaching for Stillwater my goal was for players to have pride in the program and community and to buy in and embrace that and be role models and mentors. We have kids volunteering in our youth program and there’s a core of them that understands when you get to put on the red and black jersey you stand for something and represent the whole community and that means something. This group understood that and embraced the pressure that came with that. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
• In addition to being named the East Metro Player of the Year by the Pioneer Press and the Metro Player of the Year by the Star Tribune, Ponies senior Josie St. Martin has been named one of five finalists for the Minnesota Ms. Hockey Award that will be be announced on Sunday, Feb. 25. St. Martin is the first Stillwater player to become a finalist for Ms. Hockey since Chelsey Jones in 2006.
Stillwater 1 1 0 — 2
Hill-Murray 1 1 3 — 5
First period — 1. St, Josephine Lang (Grace Cheney) 3:04; 1. H-M, Chloe Boreen (Emily Pohl, Olivia Braunshausen) pp, 8:04.
Second period — 2. H-M, Elliana Engelhardt (Pohl, Addy McLay) 10:30; 2. St, Brooke Nelson (Josie St. Martin) 15:49.
Third period — 3. H-M, Sophie Olson (Boreen, Ella Hornung) 6:16; 4. H-M, Braunshausen (Regan Berglund, Maddy Morrell) 8:28; 5. H-M, Boreen (Olson) 12:30.
Penalties — St, 3-6:00; H-M, 2-4:00.
Saves — St (Lily Timmons) 10-7-10—27; H-M (Grace Zhan) 11-4-12—27.
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