The team has developed a pregame routine. Friday, the bus pulled up to the Jimmy John's in Faribault, Minn., for pregame sandwiches. At the rink, the coaching staff budgeted the player's time so that they entered the locker room 10 to 15 minutes before taking the ice Friday.

There was a familiarity to it all so it seemed fitting that Red Wing's game-winning goal came on a routine play. During a 5-on-3 power play in the third period, senior Annie Gorman capped an ingrained sequence by knocking a rebound past Northfield goalie Sam Stark.

The Wingers, who thwarted Northfield on both of the Raiders' 5-on-3 power plays, added two late goals and prevailed 4-1. With the victory, Red Wing clinched its second berth in the Class A state tournament in three years.

Red Wing (14-12-1) will play Wednesday at Xcel Energy Center, but it won't know who or when until Sunday.

Nicole Schammel opened the scoring at 14:32 of the first period when she went to her backhand on a penalty shot and slid the puck past Stark. However, for the first 44 minutes that was all top-seeded Red Wing could muster as it came up empty on its first six power plays.

Then Marie Nordine and Brenna Freiermuth were both sent to the box for hooking in a 14-second span and Gorman sensed the game was about to change.

"I just knew we were gonna score on that power play," Gorman said. "I could just feel it."

Schammel won the faceoff back to Reagan Haley and she shuttled the puck over to Elle Anderson as is her custom. Anderson said she looked for Gorman on the back door, spotted her senior captain and then let a shot fly from the point as she so often does. The idea being that Gorman could deflect it.

The shot reached Stark, but the senior goalie bobbled it and sprawled out in front of the goal in an attempt to cover the rebound. Gorman beat her to it and knocked it in to put Red Wing ahead 2-1.

"She's one of the smarter kids I've ever coached," Haley said of Gorman. "She just always seems to be in the right spot at the right time. Her job on the power play is to kind of stand in front of the net, take up space and battle. She's done that for the last couple years and she's been really successful at that."

Gorman said she enjoys the blue-collar work in front of the goal.

"I'm the biggest player, I'd say, on the team so I have to have a strong base and they can't push me over," Gorman said. "It's actually a really fun place to be because that's where all the pucks come.

Following Gorman's goal at 10:54, Emily Stegora added an insurance goal at 15:09 off an assist from Schammel. Less than a minute later, Schammel added an empty net goal.

Red Wing goalie Lisa Nibbe stopped 18 shots to earn the win. Her lone mistake came 1:04 after Schammel's first goal when she tried to direct the puck to the corner. Instead, she knocked it off the post and Northfield's Hannah Pilger was there to tie the score.

"I knew I had to shut the door (after that)," Nibbe said. "I couldn't let in any more goals. I had to do this for my team. Collectively we all did really well. They all helped me with that."

The team effort was most evident on the penalty kill. The second-seeded Raiders had a 5 on 3 for 1:28 in the second period and 36 seconds in the third period. They failed to score both times and finished the night 0 for 6 on the power play.

With the victory, Red Wing atoned for last year's disappointment in the same building. Faribault upset the top-seeded Wingers 4-3 in overtime.

"In order for us to win this year, we kind of had to have that loss," Gorman said. "We know what it feels like. I don't think Northfield really knows what it feels like to lose. We knew what it feels like to lose. We had motivation to go out there and win."