Andover freshman defenseman Madison Kaiser received the nickname "mad dog" by her girls' hockey teammates this season, owing a little to her first name and a lot to her personality and playing style.
Andover edged Forest Lake in overtime in girls' hockey section final
Kaiser played Double-A Peewees with the boys last season and brought a toughness and exuberance to the girls' team that proved contagious.
"She's the good kind of crazy where she gets us hyped up for the games," junior forward Jamie Nelson said. "She gets us going."
Never like she did in Thursday's Class 2A, Section 7 title game. Kaiser triggered a celebratory black-and-gold avalanche with her goal only 23 seconds into overtime in a 4-3 comeback victory over Forest Lake.
"I didn't even know it went in until I was on the ground and everyone was on top of me," said Kaiser, who scored her sixth goal of the season.
No. 4 Andover (23-4) will return to the state tournament for the second consecutive season.
Kaiser, who verbally committed to the Gophers, started the season at forward. That was her position when Forest Lake beat Andover 1-0 on Dec. 13.
No. 3 Forest Lake (25-3) seemed poised to sweep the season series. Junior forward Brieja Parent, who scored the lone goal in the teams' regular-season meeting, scored twice in the third period at Fogerty Arena in Blaine to give the Rangers a 3-2 lead.
Andover called timeout with 1:59 to play and soon after pulled goalie Cassidy Stumo for an extra attacker.
Then with 13.7 seconds to play, sophomore Gabby Krause scored her 25th goal of the season to tie the score.
"Our girls played their hearts out," Forest Lake coach Todd Gutterman said.
"We were 13 seconds from state and the puck hits a shin pad and lands on their stick in the slot."
Class 2A, Section 1: Claire Enright completed a hat trick 29 seconds into double overtime to give top-seeded Farmington a 5-4 victory over No. 2 seed Lakeville North in the section final in Owatonna.
Behind goals by Jenna Gerold and Brenna Fuhrman and two from Enright, the Tigers led 4-1 in the second period.
The Panthers rallied on goals from Olivia Mattis, Meredith Jensen and Olivia Reid to send the game to OT. Peyton Cullaton also scored for Lakeville North.
The Minnesota Frost are getting production from newcomers and their established vets, with notable improvement on special teams.