According to coach David Marvin, Warroad had trailed in games before Friday’s semifinal contest against Proctor-Hermantown, but this game felt like the lead could become insurmountable. 

“It couldn’t have gotten much worse,” Marvin said of the game’s state between the second and third periods. “We were terrible, and they were really good.”

The No. 4 seed Mirage held a 2-1 lead entering the third frame before Warroad’s horses of Hannah Corneliusen and Kaitlyn Kotlowski scored back-to-back goals midway through the third period to spark a 5-2 come-from-behind victory. 

“We were dead in the water, and these guys took care of business,” Marvin said. 

Corneliusen’s goal, her first of two in the game, came on a breakaway chance which Corneliusen converted on her backhand while being harassed by a Mirage defender. 

“It definitely brought out momentum up, and we just kept with our momentum for the rest of the game,” Corneliusen said. 

Corneliusen scored her second goal at 11:02 mark of the third period, with a second insurance tally coming from Geno Hendrickson, her second of the game. Hendrickson’s goal came on a fortunate deflection for the top-seeded Warriors, as the puck glanced off the glass behind Proctor-Hermantown goaltender Ryan Gray, struck Gray’s shoulder, and into the net. 

“I felt like out play continued to be pretty good in the third, and then we just lost some bounces,” Proctor-Hermantown coach Glen Gilderman said. “That’s hockey though.”

Both Gilderman and sophomore forward Alyssa Watkins said that the Mirage (19-8-3) went into a self-sabotaging defensive shell and stopped pressuring the Warriors to the extent that they had in the first and second periods. 

“I think there was a little hesitation and (the team) starts thinking a little bit, and that’s what we didn’t want,” Gilderman said. “The cool thing for these guys was that if they just went full blast, they wouldn’t have to think.”

Watkins, who scored the Mirage’s second goal of the game to put them ahead, said that after taking the lead the team retracted. 

“We knew that we had to start playing defensive and defend our net,” Watkins said. “That’s when we started to think too much and (Warroad’s) goals started going in.”

The Warriors (28-0-1) will face defending Class 1A state champion Breck on Saturday in a rematch of last season’s title game, which the Mustangs won in overtime.