ST. PAUL — Red Wing's dream of a winning a girls hockey state title was ended Friday by the dynamic duo from top-ranked Breck.

Mustangs senior Milica McMillen scored two goals in the final 40 seconds of the first period to erase a Winger lead and teammate Kate Schipper tallied four of her own in the second period to put the game out of reach early as Breck advanced to the Class A title game with an 8-4 victory. Despite the setback, there were mostly smiles from the Wingers afterward.

"It's kind of disappointing I guess, but we worked really, really hard and I don't think people expected us to do as well as we did," said Red Wing freshman Reagan Haley, who scored two first-period goals that gave the Wingers a brief 2-1 lead before Breck's stars took over.

McMillen, who is widely considered the top prep defenseman in the country, scored two goals in the final minute of the opening frame after spending the previous four minutes in the penalty box. Schipper then put on a show, including one spectacular rush from end to end, slaloming her way through the entire Red Wing team before beating goalie Lisa Nibbe.

The two standouts are familiar faces for Red Wing's Haley sisters. Paige, a junior who scored a goal and had two assists, will be teammates with McMillen in two years at the University of Minnesota, while Reagan plays on the same summer team as Schipper. The elder Haley embraced McMillen afterward on the Xcel Center concourse, while the younger Haley heaped praise on Schipper.

"I think she's the best girls hockey player in the state," Reagan Haley said. "She's so fast and so good."

Added Breck coach Chris Peterson: "If Kate gets a step on you to the outside, there's no defender who can stay with her."

Still, there was plenty for the underdog to be proud of Friday night. The first-period deficit was something Peterson called "uncharacteristic" of his squad, who many consider the best team in the state in either class. The Wingers also battled throughout Schipper's explosion, cutting the Mustangs lead to 5-3 in the middle of the second.

However, Breck responded with two goals in a span of seven seconds to put the game away. Both of those goals came at even strength, though the Mustangs also feasted on Winger penalties; they needed just nine shots to score four power-play goals in seven chances.

Red Wing coach Scott Haley pointed to the positives though, which included numerous quality scoring opportunities and a nearly even shot total — 37 to 33. While Nibbe struggled with shots from distance most of the game — two shots she appeared to stab with her glove instead deflected into the net — Breck goalie Taylor Neisen proved tough to beat. The senior standout entered with a sparkling 94 percent save percentage and is a finalist for Ms. Goalie.

The four goals Red Wing scored represented Neisen's second-worst showing on the year.

"We've got the offensive firepower," coach Haley said. "We've got three kids with a combined 100 goals on one line. We had to have some bounces go our way and have defensive stalwarts."

It wasn't until the third period that Red Wing found that defense, but then it was unable to replicate Wednesday's rally against Hutchinson in the first-round game. The Wingers fall to 20-8-1 on the year heading into Saturday's third-place game against Warroad. It's scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.