A first time Class 2A boys’ hockey champion will be crowned Saturday night.
Zac Zimmerman scored a power-play goal with 58.1 seconds left and Moorhead beat Edina 4-3 late Friday in the second Class 2A state boys hockey semifinal at Xcel Energy Center.
Zimmerman finished with two goals, and Mason Kraft and Brooks Cullen also scored for Moorhead. Charlie Stenehjem made 20 saves.
The top-seeded Spuds will face second-seeded Stillwater in Saturday’s 7 p.m. final. The Ponies beat St. Thomas Academy 4-0 on Friday to advance to the title game for the first time in school history.
Moorhead looks to end an ominous record. It is 0-8 in title games since 1992.
Late in the third period on a power play, a rebound went to Cullen in the left circle. He sent it across to Zimmerman, who fanned on his first shot attempt, before hammering home his second try at the end of the rink where the Edina student section was located.
Stenehjem made a pad save on Mason West with about 20 seconds left and a save on Tucker Johnson in the final seconds to preserve the win.
West had a hat trick and Chase Bjorgaard made 15 saves for Edina.
After one period it was West, er Edina, up 3-2 as the junior two-sport star had all three of his goals in the opening frame for the Hornets.
He scored on a snipe at 10:06, but Moorhead countered with goals by Zimmerman and Kraft 46 seconds apart for a 2-1 lead, leading to a “Mr. Hockey” chant from the orange and black faithful. Kraft, a Minnesota State-Mankato commit, is one of 10 finalists for the state’s most outstanding senior player.
West, also a quarterback with Division I offers, scored on a redirect in front to tie the game before putting Edina up one with a shot from the left circle 52 seconds later.
Cullen scored the lone second-period goal on a rebound.
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