Kayla Shaffer's first high school goal ended the second-longest girls hockey game in state history Thursday night, and gave Blaine a 2-1 victory over Anoka in the Class 2A, Section 7 quarterfinals at Fogerty Arena.
Shaffer scored at 10:29 of the sixth overtime, after 119 minutes and 29 seconds. The score had been tied since the 5:40 mark of the second period. The winning goal went in at 11:04 p.m., 4 hours and 4 minutes after the game began.
Blaine coach Steve Guider said Shaffer, a sophomore, had just returned from concussion protocol. She was declared symptom-free Saturday.
"The fact that she was in the game at all was a blessing for us," he said.
Blaine goalie Hailey Hanson made 49 saves. Anoka goalie Gretchen Paaverud had the larger assignment; she made 89 saves as Blaine outshot Anoka 91-50. Guider said he knew Paaverud had missed stretches of the season for health reasons.
"She's a very good goalie," he said. "This year she didn't play as many games. She was good against us last year.
"We would like our shooting to be better than it was, but she stood in there and got the job done."
The longest girls hockey game in state history happened in 2016, when East Ridge defeated Apple Valley 3-2 in the Class 2A Section 3 quarterfinals in six OTs. That game lasted 121 minutes, 58 seconds. Apple Valley goalie Taylor DeForrest had 111 saves in that game.
