Edina senior goaltender Robbie Clarkowski perfectly summarized his feelings about a recent seven-goal loss to Wayzata.
Edina regroups, tops Wayzata for section hockey title after recent 7-0 loss to Trojans
The game pitted two goaltenders in the running for the Frank Brimsek Award and a rematch of a one-sided game played less than two weeks ago.
March 2, 2023 at 3:11AM
"That one stung," he said after his near-perfect performance in Wednesday's 2-1 victory against those same Trojans in the Class 2A, Section 6 boys hockey championship game.
Edina's ability to regroup just 11 days after the 7-0 undressing started with Clarkowski, one of three finalists for the Frank Brimsek Award given to the state's top senior goalie. With the victory, the storied program will make its 41st state tournament appearance, counting those by Morningside, Edina East and Edina West.
"His maturity is the reason he was able to be so much better tonight," Hornets coach Curt Giles said. "Sometimes the best goalies have amnesia. They forget about what happened and move on."
Teammate Matt Vander Vort gave his goalie a psychological lift by scoring just 1 minute, 19 seconds into the game played at the Bloomington Ice Garden.
"I was a little nervous before the game so that helped me get settled in," Clarkowski said. "It's good to know that your boys got you."
His defense had his back as well. Clarkowski didn't face his first shot through the game's opening 10 minutes.
Trojans coach Pat O'Leary said his team was fortunate to get out of the period down a lone goal.
"In the first period, we weren't doing anything right," O'Leary said. "We weren't playing like our backs were against the wall. Then we went out and totally dominated the second period. We just couldn't find one."
Wayzata goalie Will Ingemann, also a Frank Brimsek Award finalist, got beat only once in 20 shots faced. Ryan Flaherty filled the empty net for Edina (20-6-1) with 1:13 remaining.
The Trojans (19-7-2) weren't finished. With Ingemann pulled for an extra skater, Wayzata's Rhys Wallin got his team on the board.
"I'm proud of the way our boys battled," O'Leary said. "Not going to the X is sad, but this is one of the best seasons I've had with the kids and parents."
Six players plus head coach Garrett Raboin and assistant coach Ben Gordon are from Minnesota. The tournament’s games will be televised starting Monday.
