Minnetonka Girls Skate to 1-all Tie With Edina

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

Minnetonka and Edina skated to a 1-all tie at Braemar Arena 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 Minnetonka 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 assists from Hadley Cookson and Laura Bowman.

Both coaches agreed it was a well-played, even contest.

"It was a good hockey game, it always is at this barn," said Minnetonka head coach Eric Johnson. "I was happy with our girls resolve. And, at times, Edina was taking the play to us but our girls kept with the game plan and found a way to keep their poise and make some plays late in the game. I was happy with that.

"I've got to give a lot of credit to Edina, I think for a majority of the game, at least over half, they outworked us," Johnson added.

Minnetonka played its best hockey in the third period.

"I think our girls did a good job of adjusting to the speed because Edina is one of the fastest teams that we've seen, and the way they play is a really fast, up-tempo game," said Johnson. 

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.

Minnetonka plays Eden Prairie (8-7-2) starting Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in the Eden Prairie Community Center.

Edina plays Wayzata (8-7-2) Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Plymouth Ice Center.