Owatonna forward Paige Lysne (12) gives senior goalie Keshia Reuvers a pep talk before the third period of Owatonna’s game against Faribault last month at the Four Seasons Centre. Derek Sullivan/People's Press

OWATONNA — On Tuesday night, Owatonna senior goalie Keshia Reuvers will face “end-of-the-season pressure.” And if Tuesday’s rematch is anything like the first meeting between Owatonna High School at Lakeville South, Reuvers will also face more than 45 shots.

At 7 p.m. Tuesday, the Owatonna girls hockey team travels to Hasse Arena in Lakeville to face No. 4-ranked South in the Section 1AA semifinals. The Huskies, who rallied to beat Rochester John Marshall/Lourdes 3-2 on Friday, are seeded No. 4. The Cougars (20-2-2) are the top seed.

Owatonna (20-6) lost to South 3-1 in a game where the Cougars shot at the net 48 times, scored two short-handed goals, and got help from the officials, who waived off an apparent OHS goal.

Reuvers made 45 saves in the game, 21 more then her per-game average this season. Owatonna will look to make life easier on the five-year starter. Last year at the Four Seasons Centre, South only got 29 shots off and needed a goal in the final three minutes to escape with a 1-0 win.

Senior Cailyn McCauley, who like Reuvers joined the varsity in eighth grade, believes the best way to keep the Cougars’ shots down is for the Huskies to control the puck and the tempo.

“If we just play like we can, up to our abilities, shoot to score and shoot a lot, we can beat them,” McCauley said. “If we work hard, and work all the time, we can make things easier for Keshia.”

OHS coach Tim Hunst said fundamentals, including ones not always visible in the stands, should keep the Cougars from firing 50 shots at Reuvers.

“We just need to a lot of little things that normally you wouldn’t even notice,” Hunst said.

Reuvers has been one of the top goalies in the Big Nine for the past few years. Although she’s highly thought of in southern Minnesota, she garnered no love from the voters in the Let’s Play Hockey Senior Goalie of the Year balloting. Reuvers was not among the final 10 goalies.

“I understand that I’m not the greatest goalie ever, so it’s perfectly fine that people are ahead of me,” Reuvers said. “I definitely want to be on that list, but if I’m not, I’m not. There are goalies that are better than me.”

On that list and the top five finalist list is Reuvers’ counterpart on Tuesday, South goalie Chelsea Laden, who will play hockey at Div. I Quinnipaic. Though Laden has Div. I talent, she isn’t perfect. The senior has given up a goal in 15 straight games, including one to Owatonna senior Paige Lysne on Feb. 5. If Owatonna can follow McCauley’s advice, the Huskies might be able to put some crooked numbers on the scoreboard. Rosemount got 38 shots off and scored four goals on her in December. The problem is that South’s defensemen make sure Laden stays out of trouble. Although she plays in the deep and talented South Suburban Conference, she only faces 21 shots a game. The Huskies mustered just 17 shots against her in the first meeting.

Although South out-shot Owatonna 48-17, McCauley felt the Huskies played right with them for 99 percent of the game.

“We worked hard, but we just let up for a couple of shifts and they scored,” McCauley said. “We know we have to go in there and play hard, work hard 100 percent of the time, and if we do that we can beat them.”

The winner of Tuesday’s game will play Friday night at the Four Seasons Centre for a trip to state. No one on Owatonna’s roster — including seniors McCauley, Lysne, Reuvers and Aimee Goodew, who have more than 30 combined varsity letters — have played at a state tournament.

“I’m really excited for Tuesday,” Reuvers said. “I hope everyone else is ready to come and play. our game and make sure they don’t end our season.”