Benilde battles back; Edina wins in OT

Two periods of dominant hockey on Wednesday at Mariucci Arena gave Minnetonka a 2-0 lead over Benilde-St. Margaret's in the Class 2A, Section 6 final, and the sense that a trip to the state tournament was all but locked away. Then Skippers goaltender Matt Buonomo opened the door.

A tripping penalty on Buonomo at 2:24 created the break the Red Knights needed. Twenty seconds later they were on the board, and there was no looking back. Benilde tied the score at 11:09 of the third period and needed only 20 seconds of overtime to complete a 3-2 victory.

Matt Bergland got the game-winner for the Red Knights, who will make their first trip to the state tournament as a Class 2A team.

"A 2-0 lead is a difficult lead," Benilde coach Ken Pauly said. "When we got on the board they were on their heels a bit."

Things stayed that way the remainder of the game.

"It hasn't sunk in yet," Benilde senior defenseman Chris Student said outside the winners' dressing room. "We were down 2-0 to Eden Prairie last week and won, so we knew we could do it."

Paul Giel scored the only goal of the first period while the Skippers were shorthanded.

Minnetonka thought it had taken a 2-0 lead at 11:54 of the second period when Jake Gardiner jammed in a rebound off a scramble in front. But the officials ruled the whistle blew before Gardiner reached puck.

Minnetonka then went on a power play, with Giel beating Meyer on a wrist shot from the right circle at 13:01 for his second goal of the game.

"We sat back in the third period, and I've never seen this team do that," Minnetonka coach Brian Urick said. "We lost the momentum and we couldn't get it back."

The blood dripping down Anders Lee's nose after the game at Mariucci Arena suggested the kind of battle the Hornets had with the Blaze before knocking it off in overtime.

Truth is, however, one of Lee's teammates drew blood in the postgame celebration after Lee's goal gave the Hornets the Class 2A Section 2 title and a trip to the state tournament.

Lee's shot from in close was the 13th for the Hornets in the overtime, which lasted seven minutes and 21 seconds. Edina simply refused to take no for an answer as Burnsville goaltender Michael Becker turned away shot after shot.

"Their 'tender was great,'' Lee said. "When the game went to overtime you knew it was one bad break and the season's over, or one good break and you're playing for another week and a half. We came out and took it to them.''

Lee, who has one of the best wrist shots in Minnesota high school hockey, used it to give Edina a 3-2 lead at 7:39 of the third period. Lee was on a shorthanded breakaway when he was dragged down by Burnsville's Adam Perisic, leading to a penalty shot.

Lee skated in on Becker and ripped a wrist shot past him low to the stick side.

But the Edina lead lasted only a minute and 2 seconds. Perisic slid the puck to Tyler Barnes off a faceoff for a tap-in goal and a 3-3 tie.

"We've been in tight games before and we've found ways to win,'' Budish said. "We don't panic.''