Breck girls' hockey coach Ronda Engelhardt made history Saturday, becoming the first former state championship-winning player to coach a team to a title.
She went by Curtin when she was a dominant player in the budding sport of girls' hockey. She helped Roseville to an undefeated championship season in 1996 and again in 1999 en route to winning Ms. Hockey.
"I did tell the seniors that there's nothing better than leaving on top," said Engelhardt. "It was fun to watch the seniors get to experience that."
Engelhardt, in her fifth season at Breck, is the third female coach of a girls' hockey state championship team, following Whitney Restemayer of Thief River Falls (2015) and Edina's Sami Reber (2017, 2018).
Another first
The Class 2A championship game also marked the first time two female head coaches were behind the benches. Both played high school hockey as well. Reber played for the Hornets when they made their first state tournament in 2009 and finished second in 2010 and 2011. Centennial coach Kristi King won Class 2A titles playing for Stillwater in 2007 and 2009.
The winning touch
Edina senior forward Aliyah Lance scored two goals in the state tournament, and they were important. She had the winning goals in both the semifinal victory over Eden Prairie and in the Class 2A title game. Her winning goal against Centennial came 2 minutes, 39 seconds into the third period with a top-shelf shot on the power play.
"Our team is so talented with so many girls that bring something to the table," Lance said. "So to be able to be a part of that ... is just great."
Edina teammates Brooke Tucker, CC Bowlby, Emily Oden and Sophia Doll made the Class 2A all-tournament team, though Lance did not.
