Thursday, February 21, 2019

Proctor/Hermantown Mirage Beats Rochester Lourdes Eagles in Overtime

There were a lot of empty green seats due to the heavy snow that pelted most of Minnesota Wednesday but it didn't stop the small throng in attendance from seeing Kaitlyn Fawcett score the game winning goal 1:36 into overtime to lead the Proctor/Hermantown Mirage to a 3-2 win over the Rochester Lourdes/Dover-Eyota Eagles in the Class A girls hockey quarterfinals at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

The Mirage got the lone first period goal when Dehli Heikes passed to Aurora Opsahl along the left boards.  She skated toward the left face off circle and fired a shot Eagles goalie Corrin Hanson into the net to give Proctor/Hermantown the early lead.

Rochester Lourdes would tie the score in the second period as Clara Billings banked the puck off the boards, cut into the center slot and scored to even the game at one.

Heading into the third period, Proctor/Hermantown would regain the lead on Sydney Skorich's go ahead goal as she went past the right boards, switch directions and found and opening on the left side of Hanson to place the puck.  With 1:32 left in regulation time, the Eagles called time out and head coach Jeff True pulled Hanson to go with a sixth attacker.  It would be a six on four situation for Rochester Lourdes since Proctor/Hermantown's Braelyn Sathers was serving a tripping penalty.  Could the Mirage find the empty net to clinch the win?  Not yet as Maggie Hanzel would score a power play goal from the center slot with :43 left in regulation and the game would eventually go to overtime.

Sathers would help set up the game winner when she made a centering pass to Fawcett from the right boards and the puck would find the net 1:36 into overtime to send Proctor/Hermantown to the Class A semifinals.

The Mirage improved their record to 19-7-3 and will play the Warroad Warriors in the Class A semifinals on Friday, February 22 at 1:30 PM at the Xcel Energy Center.  The Eagles fell to 15-10-1 and faced St. Paul United on Thursday in the consolation semifinals at the TRIA Rink at Treasure Island Center.  Emma Schmitz would get the hat trick as she scored the game winning goal with 1:58 left in overtime to lead the Eagles to a 4-3 win over SPU.

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