Lakeville South Girls Hockey Mounts Comeback, Falls Short Against Hill-Murray

Down 4-1 in the third period, the Lakeville South student section didn’t show signs of panic for its girls hockey team.

Instead, one student waved a “Don’t stop believing” banner and the student body as a whole chanted “It’s not over.”

They were right. Because even though the Cougars girls hockey team lost 4-3 to Hill-Murray at the Class AA state quarterfinals in St. Paul, South didn’t stop believing. The Cougars went to work.

A short-handed goal by Morgan Fritz-Ward gave the Cougars life, and a empty-net score by KK Naasz with 1:37 remaining helped breathe life back into the Lakeville South bench. In the end, it was too little, too late.

“We felt like if we put something together that we were happy with, we would have a chance to do something,” coach Perry Wilkinson said. “And we had a minute thirty-seven where we could have tied it up.”

The loss sends Lakeville South to the consolation bracket—the Cougars will play Rosemount on Friday at the University of Minnesota’s Ridder Arena. Game time is set for 10 a.m.

Being down three goals in the third period was unusual for this Cougars squad, as were the team’s second period struggles. Fritz-Ward said second periods are usually the team’s strength, but on Thursday “that was Hill-Murray’s period.”

“I guess we were just kind of nervous,” Fritz-Ward said. “We got down on ourselves when we got down 3-1. We got down on ourselves, but we picked it up in the third.”

South (24-3-2) took a 1-0 lead in the first period thanks to a goal by Sam Moore at the 10:09 mark. That momentum didn’t last long, as the Pioneers answered back 23 seconds later with a goal by Marissa Brandt.

Brandt would account for two goals on the night, and her sister, Hannah, would also notch a goal and two assists.

By the time the Brandts were done putting points on the board, the Cougars found themselves down 4-1.

That’s when the comeback took shape.

After the Pioneers (22-7-1) went on the power play at the 9:52 mark of the third, Fritz-Ward took a deflected puck at center ice and scored a short-handed, breakaway goal on Hill-Murray’s Ali McKeever. 

And with 1:37 left, a perfectly-deflected puck found its way to Naasz’s stick in front of the net, pulling South to within one.

“I’d like to say there was a sense of calm, but not really,” Hill-Murray coach Bill Scafhauser said of his team’s demeanor during the Cougars’ comeback. “To their credit, they did what they needed to do.”

Wilkinson said Lakeville South must shake off the loss and come ready to play tomorrow. After all, if the team loses Friday, the season is over.

“You don’t want it to be over, and that’s what happens tomorrow if we don’t get it done,” Wilkinson said. “Rosemount is a better team than they showed today. It’s going to be a darn good game tomorrow.”

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GAME SUMMARY

Hill-Murray 1 3 0 — 4

South 1 0 2 — 3

Scoring — First period: 10:09 SOUTH Sam Moore (KK Naasz) PPG, 10:32 HM Marissa Brandt (Margo Lund, Sydney Fabian). Second period: 2:05 HM Hannah Brandt (unassisted), 14:35 HM Margo Lund (H. Brandt, Fabian), 15:15 HM M. Brandt (Brittney Anderson, H. Brandt) PPG. Third period: 11:20 SOUTH Morgan Fritz-Ward (unassisted) SHG, 15:33 KK Naasz (Lauren Grose, Fritz-Ward).

Shots on goal — HM 30, SOUTH 27.

Power plays — HM 1-5, SOUTH 1-3.

HM Ali McKeever 24, SOUTH Chelsea Laden 26.