ST. PAUL — Zoe Heimer will talk about this at her 10-year high school reunion. Then again at her 20-year reunion. And for every reunion after that, and most days in between.
The Dodge County junior saw the puck cross the goal line.
No one else in the arena did.
Heimer was the only one who needed to see it. After the play was blown dead without a goal being awarded, and with 1:03 remaining in overtime of the Class A girls hockey state championship game, Heimer sprinted to her bench and pleaded with her coaches to ask for a review.
They did.
Three minutes later, the officials stepped out of the penalty box and pointed to the center of the ice. Heimer’s shot crossed the line.
The Dodge County Wildcats are state champions.
They are the first girls hockey team ever from south of the Twin Cities metro area to leave the state tournament with the championship trophy. They are the first program from south of the metro to ever play in more than one title game.
The screams of joy coming from the Wildcats cheering section as the winning play was reviewed, and after the goal was made official, wiped out minutes of stress and anxiety after Warroad scored twice in a 39-second span in the third period to erase the Wildcats’ 3-1 lead and make it a 3-3 game.
Warroad controlled a majority of the opening period, holding a 10-3 shots-on-goal advantage at one point.
The Warriors finally cashed in when Taylor Reese got behind the Dodge County defense and Jayli French made a perfect pass to send her into the Wildcats zone on a breakaway. Reese faked far-side, then put a shot over the blocker-side shoulder of Wildcats goalie Ida Huber for a 1-0 lead with 2:39 to play in the first.
That lead lasted just 33 seconds.
On the ensuing shift, Dodge County’s top line applied pressure and caused a scramble in front of Warroad goalie Peyton Rolli. Nora Carstensen was pushed onto Rolli as she lay in the crease, and the puck slid to Zoe Heimer at the right side of the crease. Heimer had an easy tap-in to tie the score 1-1 with 2:06 to go in the period.
That goal settled the clearly nervous Wildcats, who weren’t sharp for much of the first 17 minutes.
Dodge County took its first lead just 90 seconds into the second period when Kylie Meyer grabbed a rebound of a Sophia Buesking shot in the high slot and fired it past a screened Rolli to make it 2-1.
The Wildcats extended the lead to 3-1 just 2:31 into the third when Nora Carstensen scored on a setup by Heimer.
Warroad stormed back midway through the third. A Vivienne Marcowka shot trickled through Huber’s legs and Karlee Kalbrener tapped it into an open net to make it a 3-2 game with exactly 9 minutes to play.
On the ensuing shift, Marcowka put a point shot through traffic that got past a screened Ida Huber to tie the score 3-3.
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