St. Paul, MN -  When the #3 seed Hill-Murray Pioneers and Eagan Wildcats were matched up for their quarterfinal round game, it was apparent that it would be defensive tussle. That theme played out as Eagan built a 2-0 lead and held on to defeat the Pioneers 2-1 in a riveting game.

The Pioneers (24-5-0) entered the tournament allowing just one goal in 20 of their 28 games and through a period and a half it was clear to see why.  The Pioneers were lockdown defensively and kept the Wildcats who average over 3.6 goals a game.  

Eagan sophomore Jenna Ruiz converted on the Wildcat’s third power play of the game with her 16th goal of the season.  She took a pass from the right wing just inside the Pioneer blue line by senior Brooke Peplinski in stride and made a quick move from her left to right losing the Pioneer defender with room to walk in on goal and bury the puck low to the stick site past Pioneer junior goalie Ava Bailey at 11:03 of the second period.

With 23.4 left in the second period, the Wildcats went to senior Taylor Anderson who tallied for the 2-0 lead sending the Wildcat faithful into a frenzy.  The Pioneers had not allowed two goals in a game since a 2-0 loss at the hands of Lakeville South on December 28th, 2017 that spanned 13 games.  

The Pioneers kept working and thought they  were rewarded early in the early going of the third period.  Junior Kate Kaufman took a rebound off the Wildcat junior goalie Maddie Nickell and wound up directing the puck in the net in with her foot.  As the officials went to the penalty box, the Video Replay Official upstairs had already called down to negate the goal and Eagan held the 2-0 lead.

About 3 minutes later the Pioneers hit their mark with a shot by freshman Kennedy Morris who beat Nickell to the low glove hand to bring the game back to nail-biting time.  Eagan (23-5-2) finished the regular season with a loss and a tie and were involved in 6 overtime games this season, an incredible number where they posted a 2-2-2 record.  Pressure was nothing new to them as the clock was winding down and Hill-Murray continued their push.  

Nickell stood tall in goal and shut the door.  When the Pioneers weren’t pressing for scoring chances, the Wildcat forwards made the right choices in the offensive zone and kept the puck away from the Pioneers off the cycle.  Equally, the Wildcat defenders did a solid job of taking away angles and clearing pucks to open wings and gaining lines.  

Eagan moves on to face the the Centennial Cougars in the first semi-final of the Class AA tournament Friday night at 6pm.  Hill-Murray will play Lakeville South in the consolation semi-final on Friday at 10am.