When Goliath takes on Goliath, Goliath always wins. 

Especially when it scores back-to-back goals less than two minutes apart in the third period. 

In a battle of juggernaut programs with more than a dozen Division I commits between them, Emily Oden scored with 13:18 left in regulation, and Annie Kuehl tacked on an insurance goal with 11:33 to play to lift No. 1 Edina past No. 2 Blake in the Class 2A, Section 6 finals at Parade Ice Garden.

“When we played (Blake) in January a few of our goals were bang-bang like that,” Edina coach Sami Reber said after the game. 

“Going into the game we said if we get one, we don’t let up we want to get another one.”

But before the Hornets (25-2-1) could execute their pedal-to-the-metal game plan, they found themselves down 2-1 with 2.3 seconds remaining in the second period before Aliyah Lance snapped a shot past Blake’s Anna Kruesel off the face-off win by Loli Fidler in the Blake zone with no time remaining.

“We had a play originally (that) was supposed to go to Emily Oden, and she was supposed to take the shot,” Reber explained. 

“We had the people in the places we wanted them to be in, and Aliyah was just the one who buried it.”

Oden is a Ms. Hockey finalist, as is Blake forward Sara McClanahan. 

Blake (24-2-2) drew first blood at the 7:55 mark of the first period, as McClanahan ripped a shot past Edina’s Megan Smith. The Hornets would answer with a goal from Olivia Swaim on the power play in the second, and C.C. Wallin would notch the second goal for Blake during the second frame, also on the power play, giving the Bears a 2-1 lead and setting the stage for Lance's last-second heroics. 

Reber said that while the team has cleared the toughest opponent in the Bears, the State Tournament will offer a new set of challenges as her Hornets look to defend their state champion crown. 

“Tonight was a huge stepping-stone to our end goal, but we’ve got a lot of opponents we need to worry about now.