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Andover dethrones three-time defending champ Edina

By Mike Cook, Special to the Pioneer Press, 02/22/20, 10:44PM CST

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For the second straight night, Gabby Krause played hero for the Huskies.

The junior forward scored the game-winning goal with 3:59 left, and Andover beat Edina 5-3 Saturday night in the Class AA girls’ hockey title game at Xcel Energy Center.

It is the first title for Andover (28-2), which prevented Edina from winning its fourth straight crown.

In a one vs. two game that lived up to its billing, Jamie Nelson raced near boards to track down her shot that was blocked by a defender, carried below the goal and backhanded a pass out front. Nearly draped by a defender, Krause got off shot from low in the right circle that found the back of the net. It was Andover’s first lead of the night.

“We always talk about how to execute. That’s what was going through my mind, and it just went in,” said Krause, who scored the overtime winner to beat Minnetonka in Friday’s semifinal. She had two goals and an assist in the championship contest.

“The funny thing about Gabby is if we blow a team out like 15-0, she’ll have zero points and we would laugh about it and then in the big games you got the big ones,” said coach Melissa Volk. Krause finished the season with 22 goals

Amanda Pelkey made 13 saves, and the Andover defense held Edina to three shots in the third period. Isa Goettl added an empty-net goal.

Katie Davis scored twice for Edina (28-2), which lost twice in the 2019-20 season: both to Andover. The Huskies also won 1-0 Nov. 7, the first game for both teams.

“They took it to us tonight, and unfortunately we couldn’t get going,” said Edina coach Sami Reber. The Hornets hadn’t allowed more than two goals in a game prior to the championship.

Andover outscored its first four postseason opponents 37-0 before edging Minnetonka 4-3 in Friday’s semifinal.

“This is the most special team we’ve ever had, and I think that’s what pushed us to make sure we got it done this year,” said Kennedy Little, who had two assists.

The Hornets scored three times on the power play, but they were unsuccessful on their final two attempts.

A pair of early penalties proved problematic for Andover.

With a two-player advantage for 91 seconds, pinpoint passing led to an easy goal for Emma Conner, who converted a cross-crease pass from Hannah Chorske. Twenty-five seconds later, Davis made it 2-0 Hornets.

“We were definitely irritated, but we used that fuel in a positive way and know that we have to get going even harder,” Volk said.

Andover scored two goals quicker late in the opening period to tie the game at 2.

Krause put the Huskies on the board at 15:29 when her shot hit the stick or pad of Edina goalie Uma Corniea, popped up, fell behind in the blue paint and crossed the line.

Then off a turnover, Krause centered to Peyton Hemp, who buried a shot from the slot 23 seconds later.

“Their top line has been on fire all season. They capitalized on our mistakes,” Davis said.

Davis scored her second power-play goal 47 seconds into the second for a 3-2 Edina lead, but Tyra Turner tied the game a little more than two minutes later off a scramble in front.

https://www.twincities.com/2020/02/22/2a-state-girls-hockey-andover-dethrones-three-time-defending-champ-edina/