A stellar night in goal from Piper Tam helped carry the Hill-Murray girls hockey team to its second-straight Class 2A state girls hockey title Saturday night.
The Pioneers freshman finished with 33 saves as the tournament’s top-seed held off No. 2 seed Centennial/Spring Lake Park 4-3 in the championship game at Grand Casino Arena.
Hill-Murray celebrates after winning the Class 2A championship game of the State Girls Hockey Tournament at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026.. (Matt Blewett / Special to the Pioneer Press)
The 4-3 score matched the outcome when the two teams met in the regular-season finale on Jan. 31.
Tam had 24 saves as an eighth-grader a year ago when Hill-Murray defeated Edina 5-4 in double overtime for the state title.
This time, the Pioneers required less drama as Tam kept the Cougars off the board until a late three-goal surge in the game’s final minutes.
Hill-Murray got goals from juniors Jaycee Chatleain and Emily Pohl early in the first and second periods, then sophomore Reese Unklesbay and senior Sophie Olson scored within a span of just over two minutes in the third.
The Pioneers finished their season 26-3-1 and earned the fourth state championship in program history, becoming the first Class 2A team to repeat as champions since Edina won three in a row from 2017-19. Hill-Murray previously won back-to-back titles in 2014 and ’15.
Centennial/Spring Lake Park — in just its third state tournament appearance, and its first time advancing past the quarterfinals – finished its season 26-4-1.
Cougars junior Kaia Weiland finished with 25 saves for her team, which finally got on the board on a power-play goal from senior Lillian Renslow with 2:31 to play. Freshman Josie Kelzenberg added another less than a minute later.
The flurry continued with a second goal by Kelzenberg in the game’s final five seconds. But the rally came up just short.
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