Rosemount tops Cretin-Derham Hall in second overtime of girls hockey section final

Rosemount sophomore Sophie Stramel scored 38 seconds into the second overtime period Wednesday to send her team to the state tournament. She also gave her team a one-goal lead only 12 seconds into the third period.

Scoring early in those periods did not happen by accident.

"We're always about first shifts," Stramel said. "We're a first-shift type of team. We've got to get the momentum going. That's what we do, our line especially."

Second seed Rosemount took a 3-2 victory over fourth seed Cretin-Derham Hall in the Class 2A, Section 2 championship game at Veterans Memorial Community Center. Stramel is the starting center with senior Anna Shandorf and junior Cece Hanson as linemates. They were responsible for all three goals.

"We're been going all game, 'Get pucks on net, get pucks on net,' " Stramel said. "That's what we did. And it went in our favor today."

Each team scored a power-play goal to make it 1-1 through two periods. First came Shandorf's shot in the high slot through traffic, but the Raiders evened the score on their first power play, when Cassandra Coffey scored from the blue line.

With about 4½ minutes to play in regulation, Raiders sophomore Delaney Schwab blocked a shot at her own blue line and tied the game with a breakaway.

The Irish have relied on the team motto "Together We Will" throughout the season. The team captains, a group that includes Stramel, came up with it.

"She's the leader of this team," Rosemount coach Kyle Finn said of Stramel. "She comes up with huge goals.

"She's the reason, one of the biggest reasons, we've had the success we have."

The Irish (15-11-2) return to state for the first time since their inaugural trip in 2011.

The season ends for the Raiders (10-18-0) after they defeated top seed Apple Valley in overtime in the section semifinals. Had they pulled off another upset Wednesday, they would have made their first trip since 2008.

"The belief was there," Raiders coach Tony Scheid said. "There wasn't one second until 5 [Stramel] took that really nice shot at the end, and it was in the net, where I didn't believe we were going. And that's the way the team was, too."