Nanne’s Four Goals Lift Hornets Over Ponies

March 7, 2014

The stage was set for the biggest weekend in high school sports as the number-one seeded Hornets played the unseeded Stillwater Ponies Thursday night at the Xcel Energy Center. Although the Hornets were favored, Stillwater’s impressive comeback win over the formidable Hill-Murray squad in section play showed the state that they had something to prove, and brought up talk of an upset. Few expected that the Hornets would win by such a large margin as six to one, and fewer expected senior defenseman Tyler Nanne would have already netted three goals before the horn blared to end the first period.

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Nanne’s first goal was scored as he routinely dumped the puck into the offensive zone fifty-four seconds into the game, only to have it deflect into the skate of the unexpecting Pony goalie and into the net. His second goal came as his hard pass into the slot was sidetracked by a defending Pony’s stick, and flung into the net. Then, junior forward Dylan Malmquist showed us why he’s going to college for free with a jaw-dropping maneuver that left few, if any, dry eyes in the Xcel Energy Center, and the Hornets lead three to zero. With a little over six minutes left in the period, Nanne sniped on a one-time pass to increase the Hornet lead to four to zero, and finish off his hat trick.

The second period was kicked off with a goal from sophomore forward Casey Dornbach, but Stillwater bucked back with their one and only goal a minute later.

The third period saw limited action until Tyler Nanne added one more goal, giving himself a baker’s hat trick and silencing any slight hope of a miracle comeback the Ponies could have been holding on to.

The Hornets take the ice again at 8:00 p.m today against the fifth-seeded Eagan in the semifinal round, after the Wildcats bested the fourth-seeded Duluth East Greyhounds three to zero last night, with a strong showing from Eagan Goalie Andrew Lindgren, who made twenty-eight saves and was a wall the Greyhounds couldn’t penetrate. But we’ll see what Nanne and the Hornets’ snipers can do about that.

This is Our House: Hornets Set to Defend Their State Title in the Championship

The Hornets are going back to the State Championship game for the second consecutive year, following a three to one victory over the Eagan Wildcats in front of a sellout Xcel Energy crowd of almost 19,000 Friday night. Junior forward Dylan Malmquist kicked off the scoring in the first period, driving the net hard and making the Notre Dame Hockey organization clench their fists and grit their teeth in anticipation for when he’ll don the blue and gold. The score remained one to zero until there were eleven seconds left in the second period when sophomore Garrett Wait exploited a small window above the Wildcat goalie’s shoulder and let loose on a snipe that found the back of the net. All seemed lost for Eagan in the third period, but with forty-six seconds left in the game, the Wildcats finally got one passed goalie Andrew Rohkohl and ended his strong shutout. But Malmquist’s empty net goal with fifteen seconds left wrapped the game up and put the Hornets one step closer to becoming back-to-back State Champions.

Edina fans were treated to a little double overtime showdown before their game started,  and they watched as, finally, Lakeville North’s shot flew into the net ahead of the frantic Eden Prairie goalie, to send Lakeville North to their first ever class 2A championship game.

It seems like the tale of two cities, with Edina’s legacy and state championship appearances heavily outweighing the newcomer Lakeville North’s, who have never been in, nor won the state title game. Add that to the stigma Minnesota has about Edina sports, especially Hockey, and you will be hard-pressed to find anyone outside of Edina rooting for the “Cake-Eating” Hornets tonight at 7:00 p.m.

But Lakeville North is far from a dark horse underdog, with a 20-4-1 regular season record and impressive victories over Burnsville, Hill-Murray, and Eagan. If anyone can dethrone the all-powerful Edina, it will be them. But given the Hornets’ talent, determination, and recent streak of furious play, they may be in for more than they can handle.

Hearts on Fire: Edina’s Passionate Play Wins Them Back-to-Back State Titles

Hornets beat Lakeville North eight to two.

Remember Rocky IV? Remember how the favored, hardened champion boxer Ivan Drago was defeated by the beloved underdog Rocky Balboa? Well this time around in the Minnesota Hockey State Championship, Ivan Drago came out on top.

While virtually no one outside of Edina was rooting for the Hornets to win their second consecutive state championship, and their third in five years, and most of Minnesota was rooting for the underdog Lakeville North in their first ever state championship game appearance, the Hornets left no doubt that they deserve to be the best, in an eight to two pummelling of the Panthers.

Edina wasn’t just “handed” this victory. This was earned through and through, with every practice, every shift, every game, all season. After a particularly tough loss to Hill-Murray, for example, the Hornets were bussed back to Braemar, just to skate for forty-five minutes into the night as a reminder of what is expected if you play hockey for Edina: wins.

The first period of play saw the Hornets score on a beautiful pass from sophomore forward Garrett Wait that was tipped in by fellow sophomore forward Casey Dornbach, but Lakeville North answered with a rebound goal and tied the game. Returning junior defenseman Ben “The Fo” Foley decided to make his second career goal count, and launched a rocket into the back of the net that made half of the Xcel Center have to change their pants. Senior Miguel Fidler then widened the lead to three-one but Lakeville’s Max Johnson scored his second goal of the game to send both teams to the locker room with a Hornet lead of one.

The second period was when Edina broke the bodies and spirits of the dark horse Panthers. A goal from Fidler was quickly followed by a goal from junior Parker Mismash, whose subsequent celebration will go down in history as really blatantly awesome. Sophomore Kieffer Bellows then capped off the scoring in the second, and the Hornets lead six to two, and the crowd began to sniff out an ensuing victory, with the people that only made the trip to watch Edina lose shuffling out disappointed to beat the traffic.

Bellows’ and senior Cullen Munson’s third period goals just added insult to injury, and just prolonged the amount of time before the Hornets rushed the ice, threw up their gloves and piled on to each other as chants of “back-to-back” echoed around the rink.

With the first back-to-back state hockey championship since twenty years ago, and a mob of returning talent, is three in a row really out of the question? Because once Ivan Drago has a taste of blood, he won’t stop. Nor will the Hornets.

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