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Eden Prairie edges Andover in defensive battle

02/22/2018, 10:30pm CST
By Staff Reports

Dobchuk turns aside 29 Andover shots to record shutout win


Alexa Dobchuk makes one of her 29 saves

St. Paul, MN - Defensive tussles have been the theme at the Minnesota High School Girls Class AA State High School Hockey Tournament.  After 11 periods of play, a total of 9 goals were scored in three plus games.  The story line stayed true to form in the night cap of the quarterfinal round between #4 seed Andover Huskies  and #5 seed Eden Prairie Eagles.  

After two periods, the Eagles outshot the Huskies 23-15 as Andover  junior goalie Cassidy Stumo and Eden Prairie goalie senior Alexa Dobchuk were perfect in their effort.  There were only 2 penalties through two periods of the chess match and both were assessed to the Huskies.  

Senior defender Crystalyn Hengler finally solved Stumo at 1:15 of the third period with a long shot from the right point scoring her 19th of the season.

Dobchuk made two terrific backdoor saves on Andover’s freshman forward Peyton Hemp. The Eagle captain and goalie saw two more chances off a blast and rebound that shut the door late in the third period to keep it a 1-0 lead for the Eagles.  Dobchuk, a seasoned tournament veteran, made 29 saves to earn the shutout win.

Junior Becca Kniss scored and empty net goal with 1:22 left in the third period to ice the game.

Both teams are  young as Andover (19-10-0) dresses 9 freshmen and 4 sophomores on their playoff roster and Eden Prairie (19-9-1) dress four freshmen, two 8th graders, and four sophomores on their roster.

The Eagles won the third place game in last year’s tournament and are looking to improve on that this year.  This year marks their 9th appearance to the state tournament.  They advanced to face Edina in the semi-final Friday evening at 8pm.  They split with Edina during Lake Conference play this past season by earning a 4-3 overtime win and losing 3-1 at the end of January.  

The Huskies will faceoff with Brainerd/Little Falls in the consolation semi-final at noon Friday.  The loss for Andover, who made their third tournament appearance, was just their second in 12 games.  

Tag(s): State Of Hockey  News