The Eagles quest for their first State Tournament appearance will have to wait another year.  As the number 3 seed in section 4A, they had to battle from behind, trailing in the final period of every game.  TG was able to overcome the deficits in the first 2 games, but they could not top perennial power South St. Paul, finally falling 2-1 in the section 4A championship game after battling for nearly 5 full periods.

In the first round, the Eagles met Simley, a foe they played earlier in the season.  Although they had the better of play in that previous game, TG had to settle for a 3-3 tie after giving up a 3-1 lead in the third period.  This first round section game was almost the complete opposite of their first encounter, as the Eagles entered the final period trailing 3-1.  The lone tally for TG was on a shot by Kristen Dellich at 5:07 of the second period from Amelia Vosen.  The Eagles came out determined in the 3rd period scoring 2 goals just 50 seconds apart.  At the 3:08 mark of the period, Amelia Vosen closed the gap to 3-2 from Kristen Dellich and Molly Adam.  Kristen then notched her second goal of the game from Amelia to tie the contest at 3.  Kristen wasn’t finished as she completed her hat trick on the powerplay with just 1:16 remaining in the game to give TG the 4-3 victory.  For Kristen, it was her team leading 16th goal and 4th game winning goal of the season.  The assists went to Amelia Vosen and Laura Minkoff.  It was off to the semi-finals for the Eagles.

As was the case in the first round, TG met another team they faced earlier in the season.  This time it was #2 seed St. Paul United.  The Eagles opened the season against SPU and were outshot decisively dropping a 4-0 decision.  In that contest, Alev Baysoy netted a hat trick in the St. Paul victory.  This game started off in similar fashion as Alev Baysoy scored at 9:26 of the first period giving SPU a 1-0 lead.  TG came back just 2 minutes later when Amelia Vosen scored a short-handed goal to tie the game.  The Eagles let St. Paul know they were not the same team they faced back in November.  Molly Adam put TG ahead at 14:48 of the middle period, with the assist going to Kristen Dellich.  Alev Baysoy netted 2 more goals by the end of the period for another hat trick to give St. Paul United a 3-2 lead going into the final period.  The Eagles would have to come from behind again if they wanted to reach the title game.  With just over 6 minutes remaining in the contest, and TG on the powerplay, Laura Minkoff tied the game at 3 from Katessa Archer and Allison Parnell.  The play was intense throughout the period and the game would have to be settled in overtime.  Just 41 seconds into the first overtime, Allison Parnell converted passes from Abby Huber and Maddy Javorina to send the Eagles into the championship round.  For Allison, it was her 14th goal of the season and also her 4th game winning goal.  Bring on South St. Paul.

South St. Paul was the top seed in section 4A and in the first period of the championship game, they showed TG why.  They outplayed and outshot the Eagles 17-2.  More importantly, Eagles goaltender Logan Knip held the Packers to just one goal in the period.  TG took SSP’s best shot in the opening period and only found themselves down by 1.  Play was much more even in the second period, but neither team was able to find the back of the net.  For the 3rd section game in a row, the Eagles found themselves behind entering the final period.  The third period was pressure packed and each subsequent shift was played with more intensity.  TG had a powerplay opportunity with 7 minutes remaining, but they could not capitalize.  The Eagles called timeout with 2:49 to go to set up their strategy.  With less than a minute to go in regulation, TG pulled their goaltender for the extra attacker.  With just 21 seconds to go and deep in the South St. Paul end, Molly Adam won the draw and pushed it forward.  Amelia Vosen skated across the circle and found Allison Parnell in front of the net who fired the shot to tie the game.  The Eagles again came back in the final period, in this case in the final seconds, to force overtime.  The level of effort exerted by TG fighting and battling all game long seemed to have taken its toll on the Eagles, as the Packers dominated the first 8 minute extra session.  There was no scoring and the game would go to a second 17 minute overtime stanza.  Again, South St. Paul had the better of play throughout the overtime session, but Logan Knip continued to keep the Packers off the scoreboard.  With just 52 seconds left in the 2nd overtime, a turnover deep in the TG zone was converted by Brigette Miller to send SSP to the State tournament.  For the game Logan Knip had 52 saves, her 3rd 50+ save game of the season.  The Eagles left it all out on the ice and they should be proud of the effort they displayed throughout the Section 4A playoffs.

TG ended the season with a record of 13-11-4.

Skater team leaders this season:
Points:   Kristen Dellich   [28]
Goals:   Kristen Dellich   [16]
Assists:   Laura Minkoff   [17]
Game Winning Goals:   Kristen Dellich and Allison Parnell   [4]
Penalty Minutes:   Hannah Johnson   [30]

Goalie records set by Logan Knip this season:
Most saves in a season:   812
Most saves in a game:   54 (tied record)
Most starts in a season:   28 

In the first meeting between these 2 teams earlier this month, in a contest much tighter than expected, it took a 3rd period goal by Allison Parnell from Amelia Vosen to dispose of St. Francis.  The Fighting Saints again gave the Eagles all they wanted in the contest tonight.  T-G withstood a 3rd period barrage from St. Francis to escape with a 3-2 victory.  The Eagles entered the game shorthanded, as 3 players were out sick or hurt:  leading scorer Kristen Dellich, Laura Minkoff, and Brigitta Zosel, and Maddy Javorina had limited availability.  This meant that T-G would have to rely on their other top scorers and players to step up to secure the win.

The Eagles got off to a sluggish start as players had to get used to the revised line combinations.  T-G actually drew 2 powerplay opportunities in the first 6 minutes, but they only managed to get 1 shot on net during these chances.  The Eagles started to put things together later in the period as Abby Huber found Allison Parnell above the circle who fired a shot that beat Fighting Saints goaltender Dakota Bullen to give T-G a 1-0 first period lead.  For Allison, it was her 12th goal of the season.

The second period saw play open up a little more and the play go up and down the ice.  Abby Huber had a big period as she accounted for almost half of the shots taken by the Eagles in the period.  T-G increased their lead to 2-0 when Katessa Archer fed Maddie Savage, who scored her first Varsity goal of her career.  Things were looking bright as the Eagles took a 2-0 lead into the second intermission.

St. Francis came out in the final period like a desperate team and they relentlessly attacked the T-G net.  Logan Knip faced 20 shots in the period and held the Fighting Saints off the scoreboard for the first 14 and a half minutes.  For all of St. Francis’ efforts, the Eagles were able to cling to their 2-0 lead, and things got even better when Amelia Vosen netted her 9th goal of the season from Molly Adam, who just came out of the penalty box, with just 2:30 remaining in the contest.  Instead of the Fighting Saints giving up after T-G’s 3rd goal, they turned up the heat even more.  Just 9 seconds after the Eagles scored, St. Francis forward Kelley Wagner put her team on the scoreboard, cutting the T-G lead to 3-1.  With 1:34 remaining, the Fighting Saints pulled their goalie for an extra attacker and they continued to pepper the Eagles net, finally putting a rebound in with just 1:16 to go in the period.  St. Francis was not able to get the equalizer, as Logan finished with 33 saves in the victory.

T-G will conclude their regular season schedule hosting top ranked Benilde-St. Margaret’s at Parade Ice Garden on Friday at 7:30pm.  The Red Knights currently boast a 22-2-0 record and have a perfect conference record.  They have also scored 77 goals and have yet to allow a goal against to their North Suburban conference opponents this season.  In the last 3 meetings between the 2 schools, BSM has outscored the Eagles 27-2, so T-G will have their work cut out for them.