Talent-rich Benilde-St. Margaret's adds grit to girls' hockey mix

Dave Herbst prepared his team for its biggest game this season with a hard message.

Benilde-St. Margaret's girls' hockey team lost the past three section finals to Minnetonka. Those mounting ­failures branded the Red Knights as a talented team lacking tenacity.

Even a victory against the Skippers in last week's Class 2A, Section 6 playoffs couldn't get the Red Knights off the hook. Why? Because it came in the semifinals.

So there was Herbst, in the locker room Friday at Ridder Arena, reminding players that defeating Minnetonka "will mean absolutely nothing" if they lost the section final to Wayzata.

"It's all about heart and speed," Herbst told his players.

Ample amounts of both produced a stirring 3-2 victory and a state tournament berth. The Red Knights (25-2-1), recipients of the No. 1 seed, open against Roseau (16-12) at 6 p.m. Thursday at Xcel Energy Center.

No team in the field can match the Red Knights' collection of talent. Six seniors — forwards Kelly Pannek, Caitlin Reilly, Ali Praus, Kaylee Druk and Brittany Wheeler, plus goaltender Abbey Miller — have signed to play hockey at a Division I school.

Herbst never allowed the players to rest on their laurels, challenging them to lead the program to its first state tournament appearance since 2008.

"We told them, 'You have to go out and prove to everybody that you are Division I players,' " Herbst said. "That's the No. 1 thing we addressed at the beginning of the year, that the knock on this team is that we just show up and don't think we have to work.

"This year, they put their talents together and worked hard. They wanted it."

Reuniting Pannek, Reilly and Wheeler up front gave Benilde-St. Margaret's "probably the best line in the state," Herbst said.

Pannek, a future Gopher, two-time Star Tribune all-metro first-team selection and one of five Ms. Hockey finalists, has 34 goals and 54 assists. Reilly, a Ms. Hockey semifinalist, has scored 44 goals and added 39 assists. Wheeler chipped in 17 goals and 42 assists.

The game-winning goal against Wayzata read Pannek from Reilly and Wheeler. Beyond the boxscore was an example of the team's maturity and toughness, embodied by its best player.

Pannek's ill-advised stick-handling decision resulted in a turnover near center ice and earned her an earful on the bench from Herbst. In past years, Pannek might have pouted. No more. She took ownership of her mistake and vowed to make a difference.

The sequence ending with ­Pannek's goal started with her blocking two Wayzata shots, corralling the puck and making a breakout pass. She caught up to teammates in the high slot, took a feed from Reilly and ­buried the puck.

"I was so mad at her and I told her after that turnover, 'You better get a goal to win this thing,' " Herbst said. "And she said, 'I will, I will.' Sure enough, she does it. That's the type of kid she is."

Pannek, who led the Red Knights to the Class 1A state soccer title in the fall, said the difference in the hockey team this season resides in "that dedication to making the gritty plays and battling in the corners. Also, our chemistry is beyond amazing. It's a team from first player to last player."

Pannek's rapid-fire cadence slowed a bit and her excited tone dropped an octave when asked about former coach Chris Johnson. She played for Johnson at Robbinsdale Cooper as an eighth-grader before transferring to Benilde-St. Margaret's.

Johnson, who died from cancer in 2011, "kind of instilled in me that grittiness and that you have to keep fighting," Pannek said. "It doesn't matter what the score is, you just have to keep playing. It might not be fun and it might not be easy, but it's going to be worth it."