Edina’s Hornets buzz Hill-Murray for title

Edina’s players piled on top of goalie Willie Benjamin after beating Hill-Murray 4-2 for the Minnesota AA high school hockey championship.

By John Gilbert

SAINT PAUL, MN.

In a Minnesota high school hockey tournament where controversies and shortcomings seemed to be prominent, the best was saved for last, as Edina defeated Hill-Murray 4-2 with an impressive show at both ends of the Xcel Energy Center rink to win the Class AA championship. It was a record eighth state hockey title for the Hornets.

The Hornets (25-6) also won in 1969, 1971,1982, 1984, 1988, 1997 and 2010, and that dismisses the titles the Hornets won as Edina East in 1974, 1978 and 1979. The No. 1 seeded Hill-Murray Pioneers finished 27-3-1, and fell short for the second year in a row in the final, seeking their second title to match the one they earned in 2008.

The title game drew 17,739 fans to Xcel Energy Center, for a tournament total of 117,748 for the annual four-day classic.

The championship game had all the appropriate drama and tension, although after the Hornets spotted Hill-Murray the first of two goals by Josh French, then rattled off four consecutive goals, the question was whether the Pioneers could break through Willie Benjamin’s goaltending again. They did, but couldn’t get the third goal for proximity through a scoreless third period.

Neither team had a weakness and if there were questions whether Hill-Murray could keep up with Edina’s quickness, or whether Edina could survive Hill-Murray’s toughness, both were answered as soon as the puck dropped. Yes, and yes.

The teams waged a high-speed, high-spirited battle for supremacy, where nobody could take a shift off. The good plays were impressive, the goals were colorful, the defensive play was stifling, and even the foul-ups were exciting. When Edina built a 4-1 lead, the Pioneers had just about as many quality scoring chances, but a lot of them bounced over a stick or went just wide of the pipes.

The Pioneers got the first jump, when Josh French caught Zach LaValle’s pass out from behind and took a shot that found its way through Willie Benjamin in the Edina goal at 4:11. The Pioneers took a penalty and Dylan Malmquist tied it 1-1 at 6:31 with a burst of speed up the right side, turning the defense and cutting across in front, where he stuffed his shot at the left edge.

The Hornets gained a burst of adrenaline from the goal and kept the attack going, taking a 2-1 lead at 11:56 when Cullen Munson kicked a rebound ahead as he stepped to the left to elude Pioneer goalie John Dugas, and tucked it in.

In the second period, Munson was the beneficiary of a strong sequence by Bo Brauer, who shot off the right post, chased his glancing blow into the right corner, then darted behind the net before feeding the slot, where Munson quickly put it away at 2:11 for a 3-1 cushion.

As the Hornets proved they could match Hill-Murray’s checking game, the Pioneers turned up their velocity to trade rushes with Edina. But the Hornets kept their rally going, scoring their fourth consecutive goal at 14:31 of the middle period and Anthony Walsh blocked a D-to-D pass and broke free up the middle. Speeding in, Walsh beat Dugas cleanly on teh breakaway and it was 4-1.

It looked like it might turn into a runaway, but only for 45 seconds, and then LaValle moved in on the right side at the other end of the rink, and slid a pass to the slot where French again connected with a shot into the left edge on Benjamin, sending the game into the third period 4-2.

In the third period, however, the Hornets tightened down defensively, turning back repeated Hill-Murray rushes and surviving with Benjamin acrobatically scrambling around and diving to cover loose pucks. The minutes ticked off, and Hill-Murray coach Bill Lechner — whose team lost in last year’s final to Benilde-St. Margaret’s — pulled Dugas with over two minutes remaining.

Still, nothing would go in to make that third goal and set up a truly frantic finish. And the Hornets skated to their fans to celebrate their record eighth state hockey championship.

Comments

• About the Author

  John Gilbert is a lifetime Minnesotan and career journalist, specializing in cars and sports during and since spending 30 years at the Minneapolis Tribune, now the Star Tribune. More recently, he has continued translating the high-tech world of autos and sharing his passionate insights as a freelance writer/photographer/broadcaster. A member of the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year jury since 1993. John can be heard Monday-Friday from 9-11am on 610 KDAL(www.kdal610.com) on the "John Gilbert Show," and writes a column in the Duluth Reader.
  
  For those who want to keep up with John Gilbert's view of sports, mainly hockey with a Minnesota slant, click on the following:
  
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• Exhaust Notes:

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