Eden Prairie knocked off Minnetonka in overtime and Wayzata held off Benilde-St. Margaret's to highlight a big night of section boys' hockey finals, in which nine teams ended up getting berths in the state tournament.
Eden Prairie, Wayzata lead 9 teams to state on big night of hockey finals
March 25, 2021 at 12:50PM
![Phil Feinberg (10), with Jake Luloff (17) skated to the Eden Prairie fans to celebrate his game winning goal in overtime to send the Eagles to the State Tournament. ] JEFF WHEELER • jeff.wheeler@startribune.com](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/RWVP3D3YZWAJDIEQET4BHQJT2M.jpg?&w=712)
Eden Prairie 4, Minnetonka 3 (overtime)
Eden Prairie boys' hockey players entered the locker room after their 4-3 overtime victory Wednesday against Minnetonka saying "never a doubt" with a typical mix of teenage humor and bravado.
But doubt loomed in the second period as the underdog Skippers buried three goals in 62 seconds and built a 3-1 lead in the Class 2A, Section 2 championship game at the Eden Prairie Community Center.
"We were reeling," said Eagles' coach Lee Smith, who called a timeout to re-group. "I just wanted to get through the period without any more damage."
Wayzata 3, Benilde-St. Margaret's 2
Character guy, clutch scorer, loving big brother, beloved captain … there are all sorts of adjectives that fit snugly on Wayzata's Kohl Sauer.
After scoring twice in the No. 2-seeded Trojans' 3-2 victory over No. 4 Benilde-St. Margaret's in Wednesday's Class 2A, Section 6 championship game at the Plymouth Ice Center, Sauer showed his versatility by belting out a few tunes in the locker room and, perhaps, earning another label.
St. Thomas Academy 6, Rosemount 1
The end result was never in doubt for top-seeded St. Thomas Academy as it won its fifth straight Class 2A, Section 3 title with a 6-1 victory over No. 2-seed Rosemount Wednesday at St. Thomas Ice Arena.
The Cadets (13-4-3) grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first period and used a pair of goals in 33 seconds in the middle frame to extend the lead for good.
It's the sixth section championship in seven years for the Cadets, who joined the section when it moved to Class 2A for the 2013-14 season. They're 6-2 in section finals since the class jump.
Lakeville South 7, Lakeville North 3
Lakeville South scored four unanswered goals in the third period to pull away from second-seeded Lakeville North 7-3 in the Class 2A, Section 1 final Wednesday.
Cam Boche scored three goals, including the game-winner, to lead the top-seeded Cougars. He put them ahead for good 4:04 into the third period. The senior also scored late in the first period and sealed the victory with an empty-net goal with 29 seconds left.
Jack Malinski and Ben Portner scored 1:07 apart in the third period to help the Cougars extend their lead to three goals with 5:29 left in the game.
Six players plus head coach Garrett Raboin and assistant coach Ben Gordon are from Minnesota. The tournament’s games will be televised starting Monday.
