Nanne leads defending champs’ rout Stillwater
Backed by senior captain Tyler Nanne’s four goals, top-seeded Edina began its title defense by dismantling unseeded Stillwater, 6-1, to advance to the Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament Class AA semifinals.
The Hornets wasted no time, as Nanne netted his first of the night just 54 seconds into the game. Nanne added two more before the first intermission, completing the hat trick with just over six minutes left in the period and sending Edina to the locker room with a 4-0 lead.
Nanne’s three-goal first period marked one-fourth of his offensive production for the whole season. The Ohio State commit came into the tournament having scored just eight goals in 27 games this season.
Edina built its lead to 5-0 before the Ponies’ Brandon Jungmann cut into the deficit with a late second period goal.
Nanne added his fourth on a power play in the third period to round out the game’s scoring.
Notre Dame commit Dylan Malmquist matched Nanne with four points in the Hornets’ convincing win, scoring a shorthanded goal in the first and assisting on three more tallies.
Edina moves on to face No. 5 Eagan in the semifinals Friday at 8 p.m.
Eagan prevails in hard-fought battle
A three-point night from senior captain Max Elsenheimer was enough to push No. 5-seeded Eagan past No. 4 Duluth East in a hard-fought, defensive battle. The Wildcats advance to face No. 1 Edina in Friday's Class AA semifinals.
The game was defined by its physicality, but Eagan is used to having to grind things out. As the No. 4 seed in Section 3AA, they had to do so just to make it to St. Paul.
The Wildcats and Greyhounds went scoreless through the first period, and it appeared it would remain that way heading into the second intermission before Elsenheimer scored his first of the night on a re-direction of a shot from the point with just 1.1 seconds left on the clock.
Eagan's carried that momentum into the third, as Elsenheimer pushed its lead to 2-0 early in the period. Kyle Stebbing added an empty-netter late in the game, assisted by Elsenheimer, to polish off the win.
Wildcat goalie Andrew Lindgren turned away 27 shots for the tournament's first shutout, marking the first time Duluth East has been shutout since losing to Breck, 2-0, on Dec. 26, 2012.
Eagan, winners of eight of its last 10 games, is coming on at the right time and will face Edina in Friday's semifinals at 6 p.m. In the two teams' previous meeting this season, on Dec. 7, the Wildcats upended the Hornets, 2-1.