Mariucci Arena at the University of Minnesota was the venue for the Section 2AA boys’ varsity hockey final yesterday. The Edina Hornets faced the Burnsville Blaze, each vying for a berth into the State Tournament. An Edina win would send them to the Xcel Energy Center for the ninth year in a row, while Burnsville had not made the trip since 2007.

Early in the first period, senior captain Matt Masterman found the back of the net on a rebound to give the Hornets a 1-0 lead, and the Edina fan section went crazy. “I thought it was a big goal,” said Masterman. Soon however, it was lost in the onslaught of Hornet goals.

Senior Parker Mismash showed off his superior dangling shortly after in the first period, as he made the score 2-0. Senior Henry Bowlby then made the score 3-0. But a Burnsville breakaway gave the Blaze their only goal of the night, and it was 3-1 heading into the second period.

The second period scoring was opened by Mismash, then senior Dylan Malmquist, senior Paul Meyer, and freshman Sammy Walker. This 7-1 lead gave the Hornets running time heading into the third.

The quick third period gave junior Garrett Wait his first goal of the night, but senior Paul Meyer found the net twice on what can only be referred to as “snipes.” This gave the defenseman a hat trick, a rare accolade for those who lurk at the blue line. In addition, Meyer doubled his two-year career total of goals, which now rests solidly at six.

“It was really fun being able to score for the team, and help us get to state,” said Meyer. “Going back to the X for my senior year will be something I remember for the rest of my life.”

As far as looking forward, Meyer is prepared to pull out all the stops to win another state championship. “Our goal as a team is to play our game every shift and work as hard as we can to achieve our goal,” he said.