Edina Girls Skate to Tie Against Minnetonka

For Minnetonka’s girls, this was something new. For Edina, it was old hat.

Minnetonka and Edina skated to a 1-all tie at Tuesday evening in a Lake Conference matchup of top 10 teams. It was the first tie of the season for fourth-ranked Minnetonka (14-3-1).

For sixth-ranked Edina (12-3-5), however, it was their fifth tie of the season—four of them coming against ranked teams. The Hornets had previously tied Blaine, No. 14 Roseau, No. 1 Roseville and No. 18 Hopkins.

The two teams fought to a scoreless tie for most of two periods before junior forward Sarah Nielsen scored to give Edina a 1-0 lead just before the end of the second period.

That lead looked like it might hold up, as the Hornets seemed a skate quicker than the Skippers for most of the game.

But with 5:44 left in the third, Minnetonka senior forward Kira Von Steinbergs tied the game with a shot past the Edina goalie off an assist from Hadley Cookson.

Neither team could score in the remainder of the third period or in the eight-minute overtime.

"I was happy with the way we battled at times," said Edina head coach Laura Slominski. "I think I was not happy with how it was kind of up-and-down from our side. We're just looking to get a little more consistency. But we did some really positive things and obviously have some things we have to work on, too.

"Obviously, give all the credit to Minnetonka," added Slominski. "They just kept battling and battling and battling. And, like I said, we saw some great things, and hopefully we can improve on some things, too."

Edina edged Minnetonka on shots on goal 33-31.

The Edina girls remain in Lake Conference action this weekend, when they travel to the Plymouth Ice Center to face Wayzata (8-7-2) at 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 14.