Lakeville South, Red Wing Win Girls’ Hockey Section Titles
Lakeville South rallied with a three-goal third period to unseat defending Section 1AA girls' hockey champion Farmington 6-5 in front of a packed Four Seasons Centre in Owatonna. The arena emptied and refilled for Red Wing's 4-1 victory over Rochester Lourdes in the 1A title game. The Cougars and Wingers advance to the state tournament at Xcel Energy Center February 21-24.
South fell behind top seed Farmington 33 seconds into the opening period of what turned into a back-and-forth and very physical hockey game. Lakeville South scored a pair of goals midway through the period for a 2-1 lead, but the Tigers notched a power play goal late to make it 2-2 at first intermission. Each team had an extended five-on-three power play but couldn't convert.
South scored early in the second period, but Farmington controlled the rest of the period, scored three times and took a 5-3 lead into the third period. The Cougars drew within 5-4 at 1:45. South senior Emily Fischler took over late in the period. She tied the game at 9:47 and completed the comeback with a short-handed breakaway goal with under four minutes remaining.
Red Wing senior and Ms. Hockey finalist Taylor Heise scored a goal in the first and second period as part of the Wingers building a 4-0 lead after two periods. She also added an assist in the Wingers 4-1 victory over Rochester Lourdes to qualify for the state tournament.
Bands for all four schools showed off some great sportsmanship. The South and Farmington bands cheered each other on and held a battle-of-the-bands style exchange during period breaks. The Red Wing band ordered a truckload of pizzas and shared the extra with the Lourdes band.