Dodge County wins Class 1A girls hockey title in overtime, ends Warroad’s push for four in a row

The crease was crowded. Warroad players came away with the puck. The lamp stayed dark.

Then Dodge County junior forward Zoe Heimer skated toward the Wildcats’ bench, swirling her finger in the air, insisting on a video review.

With a minute left in overtime and the Class 1A state championship game tied, Heimer knew the puck had crossed the line for her 13th goal of the season. She had looked to tuck in a rebound off sophomore forward Maysie Koch’s shot, which had ricocheted off the right pipe.

“She’s an honest kid,” head coach Jeremy Gunderson said. “She was right there on top of it. So, no hesitation [to review it].”

Both teams waited at their benches, necks craned, watching the replay on the Jumbotron. Dodge County fans began to cheer, long before the officials made their call. Everyone could see the black dot sneaking across the red line.

“It was kind of my whole hockey career just flashed back in my eyes,” senior forward Mollie Koch said. “I’ve heard that when you die, the last seven minutes after your death, your brain lives and replays the moments, and that’s what happened to me.”

Gunderson was drawing up the next faceoff play while the Wildcats players admitted afterward they were already planning their celebration.And with the final whistle, the No. 1 seed Wildcats could finally act on those plans, skating torward the student section. Their 4-3 win over No. 3 Warroad avenged their loss to the Warriors in last year’s state title game and earned Dodge County its first state title on its second try at state.

The Wildcats are the first girls hockey team south of the Twin Cities to win a state title.

“It’s huge. I think it puts us on the map, right?” Gunderson said. “We still kind of play the old-school way of hockey, back check, forecheck, run all of our players.”

Warroad, which won last year’s championship 5-2, was hoping to become the first girls hockey team in Minnesota to four-peat.

Up 3-1 with nine minutes left to play, the Wildcats gave in to a hungry Warroad comeback. Warroad scored twice in the span of 39 seconds to tie the game 3-3 and force overtime.

Dodge County’s senior goaltender Ida Huber — a Long Island commit who entered Saturday’s game saving 95.9% of shots faced — made 33 saves against Warroad.

The Warriors got on the board first, with sophomore Jaylie French slipping a pass between the blue line for junior Taylor Reese to finish from the low slot.

But the Wildcats answered less than a minute later, with Heimer cleaning up a shot from leading scorer senior Nora Carstensen, who finished the season with 57 points.

A long-range goal from junior defender Kylie Meyer in the second period, then a shot from the doorstep from Carstensen early in the third, put Dodge County up 3-1.

But back-to-back Warroad goals, scored first by sophomore forward Karlee Kalbrener, then junior defender Vivienne Marcowka with eight minutes left, sent the game into overtime.

Warroad also played into overtime — three overtimes, in fact — in its 2-1 semifinal win over No. 2 Orono. Junior goaltender Payton Rolli had 61 saves in that game, and another 18 tonight. Despite Warroad outshooting the Wildcats, Dodge County made its chances count en route to making history.

“The second I saw the ref’s hand drop, it was waterworks,” said senior forward Hannah Peterson. “Our dreams came true.”