edina 9, lakeville north 3

Hornets' second period overwhelms Panthers

Edina is happy to be a tournament role model.

Lakeville North said it aspires to be like the No. 3-seeded Hornets, who scored five goals in the second period and got a hat trick from Connor Hurley in a 9-3 Class 2A quarterfinal victory Thursday.

"What can you say, it's great to hear," Hurley said about the Hornets being called role models. "We came out really fast [in the second period] and were chipping the puck behind [the defense] and using our legs to get behind them and making plays."

Lakeville North stayed close to Edina for a bit, ending the first period trailing 2-1.

But the Hornets (23-6) returned inspired. Redirections by Bo Brauer and Dylan Malmquist (two goals, one assist) in the first six minutes of the second period gave them a 4-1 lead. Hurley, using speed and awareness, later added goals two and three within 27 seconds of each other. The junior forward also had one assist.

Lakeville North's Nick Poehling also had a hat trick, getting No. 3 in the final minutes.

"My hope is that … for our young guys, which we have a bunch on the team, to see the way they prepared and the way they competed," Lakeville North coach Trent Eigner said. "We understood the repercussions of playing soft or making mistakes. Unfortunately that little stretch in the second period really took the wind out of our sails."

The Panthers (11-17-1) struggled against ranked opponents this year. In 15 tries, they won one and tied one. It was their third state appearance in the past four years.

"I don't think we looked at them any different," Edina's Parker Reno said. "They were in the state tournament, so they're a good team."

Jason Gonzalez