Edina boys hockey defeats Elk River/Zimmerman in Class 2A state tournament quarterfinal
ST. PAUL — The No. 1-seed Edina Hornets (24-4-1) defeated the Elk River/Zimmerman Elks (18-10-1) 6-2 in the Class 2A MSHSL boys hockey quarterfinals on Thursday, March 7 at Xcel Energy Center.
Edina, in search of its 11th state title in school history and the No. 1-seed in 2024, took six minutes into the second period to pull away.
Edina freshman Freddie Schneider scored in the first period for the Hornets. He was in the right spot in front of goal to clean up a rebound and score the goal
"He's an extremely talented kid," Edina head coach Curt Giles said. "He sticks his nose in there. He's been like that all year for us, from the very first tryouts."
The Hornets pressured the Elks all first period and early second period, but turnovers and two penalties on the Hornets kept Edina from capitalizing.
"I don't think we played extremely well in the first period," Giles said. "We had a tendency to turn pucks over, and that's how Elk River is designed to play, by turning the puck over. They're a good team in a transition."
The Hornets killed the penalties, including one at the start of the second period, and proceeded to pour in five goals in the second period.
Casey Vandertop led the Hornets with a hat-trick in the second period, and Mason West and John Halverson added goals.
Elk River/Zimmerman was not blanked in the game. After the five-goal run from Edina, Elk River's Daniel Babcock put a puck into the top of the net at close range.
The Elks scored the only goal in the third period. Kole Mears cleaned up a rebound in front of the net for the goal.
"We challenged our kids after the second period to go out there and win the third period, and they did," Elk River/Zimmerman coach Ben Gustafson said. "I couldn't be more proud of them."
Edina will play the winner of White Bear Lake vs. Grand Rapids in the Class 2A semifinal on Friday, March 8 at 8 p.m. at Xcel Energy Center.
"Our expectations have been the same for a number of years," Giles said. "Control what we do and how we do it."
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- Jack Butler | butler@scorebooklive.com | @Butler917
