Sports

Proctor/Hermantown gets an uncommon upset in girls' hockey quarterfinals

Proctor/Hermantown upsets third-seeded Wingers and holds their star player, Taylor Heise, to no goals.

February 22, 2018 at 5:12AM

Proctor/Hermantown’s Mariah Haedrich celebrated her second-period goal with teammate Megan Madill (21). She beat Red Wing goalie Tyler McGrath in a Class 1A girls’ hockey quarterfinal Wednesday. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Proctor/Hermantown stuck to its defensive game plan in the team's second meeting with Red Wing in the Class 1A quarterfinals.

"We didn't change very much, to be honest," Mirage coach Glen Gilderman said.

Except the outcome.

After losing to the Wingers in early December, the Mirage upset third-seeded Red Wing 3-1 Wednesday at Xcel Energy Center. It marked just the sixth time in 38 Class 1A state quarterfinals that the higher-seeded team lost.

The Mirage (17-12) scored a pair of second-period goals and shut down one of the state's top players, Taylor Heise.

"They backchecked like no one's business," Heise said.

The Wingers (23-5) had defeated Proctor/Hermantown 5-2 on Dec. 9. Since then the Mirage adjusted its penalty kill, which on Wednesday included assigning senior Mariah Haedrich to defend Heise. The Mirage penalty kill went 4-for-4.

After a scoreless first period, Haedrich showed off her offensive skills 2:33 into the second to give her team a 1-0 lead. Her goal came off a Wingers turnover in their own zone. Haedrich was there and then beat the goaltender with a backhand shot.

"The puck just coughed up to me," Haedrich said. "I just tried to put it on net and find an opening as much as I could."

Sophomore defender Megan Madill scored from the slot a few minutes later for a 2-0 lead. The Mirage added an empty-net goal with 1:49 to play before Nicole Oberding scored the only goal for Red Wing with 35 seconds left. Mirage junior goaltender Ryan Gray made 23 saves.

HEATHER RULE