DEREK SULLIVAN
dsullivan@owatonna.com
Posted: Friday, February 11, 2011 10:47 pm

Owatonna’s Emily Cochran, Cailyn McCauley, Ashley Kniefel and Kelsey Rohrig celebrate after McCauley scored the game-winning goal against Rochester John Marshall on Friday night at the Four Seasons Centre. Derek Sullivan/People's Press

OWATONNA — Cailyn McCauley scored two short-handed goals to continue her career and the careers of five of her best friends.

In a game where Owatonna trailed with two minutes left in the third period, the Huskies defeated Rochester John Marshall/Lourdes 3-2 in overtime on Friday night in the Section 1AAA quarterfinals at the Four Seasons Centre. Owatonna will play top-seeded Lakeville South on Tuesday in the section semifinals.

With 2:25 left in the third and the Rockets leading, Emily Cochran was called for a penalty. If Owatonna, the No. 4 seed, was going to tie the game, it was going to have to do it on the penalty kill.

Paige Lysne slapped a pass off the boards that ricocheted right to McCauley’s stick as she skated past the Rockets’ defense. She controlled the puck until she was right on goalie Mia Bruesewitz’s doorstep, then flipped the puck over her stick.

“It was a fly play,” McCauley said. “It hasn’t worked much this season, but it finally did. It was a godsend, just amazing.”

With the game tied, Owatonna’s energy picked up, but as overtime started, Paige Lysne was called for tripping and the Rockets were back on the power play.

Emily Cochran had a short-handed shot that Bruesewitz slapped behind her net. Cochran stayed with the puck and swiped it away from two Rockets, and then found a streaking McCauley, who beat Bruesewitz again, this time with the game-winner.

“Emily worked really hard on the boards to get that pass to me. It was awesome,” McCauley said. “She just kept her head in the boards, fighting hard, doing the dirty work, and getting it out. I give all the credit to her for that.”

The two teams were tied at zero after one period. Owatonna started slow and didn’t have a shot on goal for the first 5:37 of the game. Newly crowned Snow Queen Paige Lysne scored with 13:28 left in the second period to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead.

Then the penalties started for Owatonna, which committed eight of the final 10 penalties in the game and 10 overall. The Rockets started the third period on a 5-on-3 power play and took advantage. Eighth-grader Tori Thompson tied the game with a power-play goal. Moments after the power-play ended, sophomore Kelly Bier snuck a puck past Keshia Reuvers, and the Rockets led 2-1 with 15:30 left in regulation.

“Like I’ve been saying all week, (the Rockets) are a solid team,” OHS coach Tim Hunst said. “We were taking it to them, but not putting the puck in the net. We were hanging on to that one-goal lead, and then they popped a couple of goals. They had a lot of fight in them. Luckily for us, we were able to get a couple of shorties there at the end to win it.”



Owatonna scoring: second period: 1, Paige Lysne (Cailyn McCauley) 3:32. third period: 2, McCauley (Lysne) 15:05 (sh). overtime: 3, McCauley (Emily Cochran) 1:34 (sh). Owatonna goalie: Keshia Reuvers (23 saves).