East Grand Forks beats St. Cloud Cathedral in OT for Minnesota 1A state hockey title
For the first time in a decade, East Grand Forks is the Class A boys state hockey champion in Minnesota — and they did it in dramatic fashion.
After surrendering the game-tying goal to St. Cloud Cathedral with 47 seconds left in regulation, East Grand Forks delivered a winner less than two minutes into overtime. Senior forward Jace Van Eps was the hero, as his banked-in rebound goal from deep in the corner secured a 2-1 victory for the Green Wave at Xcel Energy Center on Saturday afternoon.
Jace Panzer had the assist on the game-winning goal.
It's the first championship for EGF (16-13-2) since they won back-to-back titles in 2014 and 2015. They had a sub-.500 record in the regular season this year, but their difficult schedule helped prepare them for an incredible six-game run through the postseason. Just to get to this stage, they rallied from a 5-2 deficit in Friday's semifinal against Hibbing/Chisholm, scoring five consecutive goals in a 7-5 win.
East Grand Forks appeared to be headed for a 1-0 win in this title game until Cathedral freshman Bo Schmidt tied it when his shot deflected off of goaltender Noah Schindele's glove and into the net. The goal came with the Crusaders on a power play.
Cooper Hills opened the scoring for EGF midway through the second period when he crashed the net and buried a loose puck on a rebound. It was his seventh tally of the season, assisted by Panzer and Tucker Lovejoy. That was the only goal either team could scratch across until the final minute of regulation.
St. Cloud Cathedral (20-9-2) had beaten Orono 4-1 in the other semifinal on Friday. Orono beat Hibbing/Chisholm 5-1 in third-place game earlier on Saturday.
The Class 2A title game between Moorhead and Stillwater is at 7 p.m.
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