Class 1A defending state champion Breck emerged from the quarterfinal round of the 2019 tournament with a 2-0 win over Fergus Falls, battling through an inspired Otters’ defense that nearly shut down the Mustangs high-flying attack. 

“Throughout the game, they were reading our play and started blocking more shots, which made it difficult to get shots on net,” Breck junior forward Olivia Mobley said in the postgame press conference after the game of the Fergus Falls defense. “We drove through adversity to get more shots and pepper the goalie and in the end (it) made for a successful outcome.”

Mobley scored the second goal of the game for the Mustangs (20-8), the tournament’s No. 2 seed, beating Fergus Falls goaltender Jadyn McKeever on a clean wrist shot with just under 90 seconds to play in regulation. 

The Otters (21-7) had called timeout seconds before Mobley’s goal, which put the Mustangs ahead 2-0, and had opted not to pull McKeever for an extra attacker. 

“It’s not that easy always to control the puck down there in big situations, in the state tournament for teenagers,” Fergus Falls head coach Tim Lill said. “We want to get two on the puck all the time,” Lill continued. “I didn’t want to take the chance of making it a (two)-goal game.”

McKeever shook off the early butterflies and turned in a brilliant, 31-save performance for the Otters. 

"The first five minutes I feel like I was really nervous and I was playing really choppy," McKeever said, citing the built-in distractions of the state tournament as occupying her mental space in the game's initial moments. "It took me a while to calm down, but by the end of the first, I feel like I was relaxed and poised." 

Senior defender Katherine Solohub scored the first goal of the game for the Mustangs, snapping a shot from close range after a brief rebound chance. 

“It was really exciting to get one off the bat,” Solohub said. “It was a great shot by (Ella) Brophy, great rebound by Shae (Messner), and I just happened to be on the right spot.”

The goal was Solohub’s fourth of the season. Mobley’s tally was the 29th of her junior campaign.