Orono sinks Proctor/Hermantown in OT, reaches 1A girls hockey state final

Orono clung to a one-goal lead throughout the third period of the first Class 1A semifinal Friday at Xcel Energy Center. The pressure from Proctor/Hermantown became too much, and the game was tied late in regulation.

The third-seeded Spartans didn't stop. Freshman Maddy Kimbrel scored the winner 3:47 into the extra period for a 4-3 victory in the girls hockey state tournament that sends her team to its first state championship game.

"Yeah, that was just how we planned it," Orono first-year head coach Larry Olimb deadpanned to open the postgame news conference.

Orono (22-3-4) scored three unanswered goals in the second period for a 3-2 lead at the second intermission over the second-seeded Mirage (20-7-2). In the third period, the Mirage skated with a 6-on-4 advantage for most of the final two minutes because of a power play and pulled goaltender.

Sure enough, Izy Fairchild tied the game with 32 seconds remaining. The shot went in off the top of Orono senior goaltender Celia Dahl's arm.

"It kind of popped up weird," said Dahl, who made 24 saves. "Usually I'm able to keep those ones out. So I don't really know what happened on that one."

On the winner, Mirage coach Emma Stauber said the Mirage didn't get the puck deep and it "turned into a bad bounce."

"Our goalie played it to the corner, it went off a skate and came back right to a stick," Stauber said. "That's the game. And things like that are going to happen."