The Professional Women’s Hockey League held its awards luncheon in downtown St. Paul on Tuesday, an event meant to put a bow on the inaugural season.

But one important bit of unfinished business hung over the festivities, just as it had the night before at the draft: answering the question of who is running Team Minnesota.

Coach Ken Klee made one thing clear on Tuesday — it won’t be him.

Klee met with PWHL officials Tuesday morning, and while he left the meeting set to continue in his current role, he said he is not interested in replacing Natalie Darwitz as general manager.

PWHL senior vice president of hockey operations Jayna Hefford turned down an interview request from the Pioneer Press on Tuesday to discuss the process and timeline for naming a general manager. The league did confirm that it has begun the search for Darwitz’s replacement.

It remains an unsettling situation for the league, and in particular for the team that won the championship. Darwitz is held in high regard in her hometown, so whomever lands the job will have that to contend with that. Bringing in an “outsider” risks upsetting even more members of the fan base.

In the meantime, with free agency about to begin, it’s unclear who is making the decisions on which of Minnesota’s players on one-year deals will be offered new contracts and which free agents, if any, Minnesota will pursue.

Minnesota was able to do more celebrating on Tuesday with Grace Zumwinkle being named rookie of the year. Zumwinkle was the only Minnesota player among the three finalists for the various individual awards.

She also was named to the all-rookie team and a second-team all-star. Minnesota defender Sophie Jaques also was named to the all-rookie team.

Center Taylor Heise was recognized for being named the most valuable player in the playoffs.

Not surprisingly, Toronto dominated the awards, which were based on regular-season performance. Toronto finished first but was upset by Minnesota in the first round of the playoffs.

Natalie Spooner was named most valuable player as well as forward of the year. Toronto’s Troy Ryan was named coach of the year, and Kristen Campbell goaltender of the year. Montreal’s Erin Ambrose was named defender of the year.

Campbell, Ambrose and Spooner earned first-team all-star honors, along with New York forward Alex Carpenter, New York defender Ella Shelton and Montreal forward Marie-Philip Poulin.

Zumwinkle made a smooth transition to the pro game after playing for the Gophers last season. The Excelsior native scored 11 goals, tied for second-most in the league. She also collected the first hat-trick in league history.

“I think just focusing on your strengths,” Zumwinkle said when asked what made it possible to be successful in the league right away. You hear players talk about what makes them special and so unique, and something I try to focus on is getting to the dirty areas in front of the net.

“I think that helped make me successful. I tried to score some goals, and I think when you just focus on the things you do very well, it helps you in the end.”

Zumwinkle also possesses a good shot, and she enjoys putting it to use.

“I do like to shoot the puck,” she said. “You look at the stats, if you average six to seven shots a game, hopefully one will go in here and there. No shot in hockey is a bad shot. So just try to focus on that and the process as a whole.”

There were times during the season that Klee had to implore some of his players to shoot more. Zumwinkle wasn’t one of them.

“Super proud of her,” Klee said. “She had an unbelievable year for us. Coming out as a rookie you never know how it is going to go. She started good — she had a lot of goals early, which was huge.

“Then, even down the stretch, even with her not contributing a lot offensively, she was still a factor in every game. The other team had to counteract her. So, for me, she played great all year.”

Zumwinkle seems to have what it takes to emerge as one of the league’s premier players in the years ahead.

“I told her, ‘Hey, you’re going to have to train because next year is going to be harder,’ ” Klee said. “The players coming in are going to be better.”

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It’s rare Eden Prairie can ever be considered a Cinderella in the sports realm, but the Eagles are making quite the impressive run at the moment in boys lacrosse. And the ride lives for at least another round.

Eden Prairie was the No. 4 seed in the Section 6 tournament and edged top-seeded Prior Lake in the section semifinals before downing third-seeded Edina in the section final.

Both were tight, low-scoring contests.

The Eagles followed a similar formula in the boys state quarterfinals Tuesday at Eden Prairie High School.

Eden Prairie flummoxed Eagan’s usually potent offense en route to an 8-6 upset victory in the No. 4-5 matchup.

The fifth-seeded Eagles will meet top-seeded Benilde-St. Margaret’s in the semifinals at 5 p.m. Thursday at Chaska High School. The Red Knights topped unseeded Centennial 16-7 on Tuesday.

Eden Prairie (12-5) came out on fire Tuesday, compiling a 5-0 lead after the first frame, something senior attackman Danny Burke chalked up to preparation.

“We had a good week of practice, and then just coming out and knowing what we wanted to do in the game and then executing,” said Burke, who tallied three goals and two assists. “I think that was the key to the win today.”

Burke is friends with Eagan star attackman Sam Simon, and he admitted it’s a fun motivation to prove himself against what he considers to be a superior player. Eden Prairie’s offense certainly established more rhythm than Eagan’s early.

The Wildcats (13-4) struggled to generate good looks. In large part, that was a product of Eden Prairie’s defense.

Burke credited the defensive efforts of Isaiah Hazekamp and Max Kukla for making Simon’s life difficult, while noting Aiden Chipongian played “lights out” in net.

“We were playing, obviously, against one of the best players in the state,” Burke said. “I couldn’t be more impressed with the guys down on the defensive side of the ball.”

Eagan trailed 6-2 at the half and was down 8-3 in the final frame. To the Wildcats’ credit, they potted the final three goals of the contest – two of which came from Simon – and nearly pulled within one with roughly 20 seconds to play, only to have a shot clang off the crossbar.

“We’ve done it so many times. We’ve scored eight-, nine-goal quarters. And, at halftime, that’s what we were talking about doing. We just had to really come together,” Simon said. “I think we partially came together. Defense and offense started playing better, more unselfish. But at the end, we just couldn’t make it happen. We’re excited to have a couple more games and prove ourselves.”

The Wildcats are making their first state tournament appearance since 2018. Simon noted how special this week is for Eagan after narrowly missing out a year ago after a four-overtime section final loss to Cretin-Derham Hall.

“I think it means a lot for our coaches and all the players here, especially the 16 seniors, who this is it for them. This is our last run,” Simon said. “So we’re really excited to be here, excited to prove that Eagan lacrosse can hang with all these other boys.”

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On a slow day during the offseason, Rocco Baldelli might peak at the upcoming season’s schedule and take note of lengthy stretches of games.

“I’ve done that before and I’m like, ‘That’s a long stretch, that’s a long stretch, that’s a long stretch,’” Baldelli said. “Six months from now, maybe we’re talking about sticking someone in there and letting them pitch.”

That’s exactly what the Twins did on Tuesday, and that’s exactly why Louie Varland got the call from Triple-A. The Twins are in the middle of 13 games in as many days, and they wanted to give their starting staff a breather.

To do so, they inserted Varland in to make a start.

While it might be something he looks at far in advance, a serious discussion about calling up a spot starter usually comes a couple weeks out, Baldelli said. And though the Twins have the plans in the works, the starter himself may not even know until a couple of days before.

“These guys don’t need more heads up than that. It’s actually not beneficial,” Baldelli said. “There’s too many different things that can change if you start talking about these things too early, and you don’t want to necessarily always tell them just the day before.”

And so why now, as opposed to other long stretches without a break this season?

“We’re always going to have 13-game stretches. That’s what the baseball calendar looks like. You’re going to have a good handful of them over the course of the year,” Baldelli said. “You’re going to pick those types of stretches to normally insert a starter. It’s not like this is by far the best time to do it. It’s a good time to do it.”

Margot heats up

June has historically been Manuel Margot’s most productive month, so perhaps it’s not surprising that the outfielder has started to heat up after a slow start to the season.

“Whenever I get the opportunity to be out there, I just try to do my best,” Margot said through interpreter Mauricio Ortiz. “Whatever happened the first two months, I just turn the page, and I’m doing what I do right now.”

Margot hit .204 with a .528 OPS through the first couple of months. He had just four extra-base hits — three doubles and a home run.

In his first seven games of June coming into Tuesday, Margot was hitting .429 with a .500 on-base percentage and 1.214 OPS. He had six hits, including a pair of doubles and a triple.

“Even when some of the surface line numbers you’re looking at haven’t caught up to the at-bats, we’re still noticing that the at-bats are good,” Baldelli said. “He’s hitting balls good. He’s shooting hard line drives all around the field. … He has had really good at-bats, and he’s earning some opportunities.”

Briefly

To make room on the roster for Varland, the Twins sent Diego Castillo to Triple-A. The Twins are likely to option Varland and recall another reliever … Pablo López is lined up to face Colorado left-hander Austin Gomber in the series finale at Target Field on Wednesday afternoon.

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Just like it has all season, the Lakeville South offense continues to be nearly impossible to stop.

Cretin-Derham Hall didn’t have an answer Tuesday.

Katie Grubbs scored a career-high six goals as the top-seeded Cougars routed the Raiders 17-4 in a state girls lacrosse quarterfinal.

Looking for the school’s second title in three years, the 17-0 Cougars also got four goals and three assists from Sivanna O’Brien. Tori Tschida, Emma Remington and Christina Swirtz had two tallies apiece, and Charlotte Fannin had three assists.

Next up for the Cougars is Stillwater at 5 p.m. Thursday at Eden Prairie High School. The Ponies (13-3) beat Minnetonka 18-5 in their quarterfinal.

Lakeville South finished third last year after losing a one-goal heartbreaker to Benilde-St. Margaret’s in the semifinals, a memory that remains fresh for this year’s squad.

“It’s kind of a reality check for us coming into the state tournament, making sure we’re really getting focused on what we’re doing, not just walking in like, ‘Oh, we’re going to win,’” O’Brien said. “It really helps us prepare and get focused, to get that drive.”

And there has been at least one ritualistic change.

“Last year we were singing to the ‘Pitch Perfect’ soundtrack, and this year it’s banned from our warmup from anyone singing it,” O’Brien said with a chuckle.

But success is not only about putting the ball in an opponent’s net; it needs to be kept out of your own. Lakeville South has outscored its four postseason opponents 67-12.

The Cougars have not allowed more than five goals in a game since April 18, their second contest of the season.

Coach Joel Tornel called the performance of goaltender Kate Baell “unbelievable” with big saves at big times, but he also credits the four girls in front of the last line of defense.

“All four of our D can clear, can pass and they play great defense. We just don’t give people quality scoring opportunities, and when they get a good look, Kate’s been there.”

Grubbs, a senior midfielder and University of Northern Michigan commit, scored 36 seconds into Tuesday’s game and Tschida, the Pioneer Press 2024 East Metro Girls Lacrosse Player of the Year, got on the board three minutes later. Swirtz, O’Brien and Grubbs scored before the quarter was done for a 5-1 lead.

“Katie was putting everything in. It came in her stick and she found space. It was fun to watch. Some of the prettiest goals I’ve seen all year were today,” Tornel said.

Jane Stangler scored three times for Cretin-Derham Hall (11-6), upping her season total to 40. Jordin Rosga scored her 57th of the season.

“This (success) is almost earlier than we expected. We’re trying to build the program back right, were trying to get back from a lacrosse perspective. And that the girls were able to battle and persevere where we had a little hiccup in the middle of the year and being able to be here is an amazing accomplishment,” said coach Jeff Rosga, whose club lost four of five games in early May and was seeded third in its section.

Grubbs, Tschida, Swirtz and Remington scored in a 90-second span midway through the second quarter to make it 11-1 and put the game into running time.