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.

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.