Friday night’s first Class 2A State Tournament semifinal started with a five-on-three penalty kill and ended with Cheyenne Abear sobbing along the glass near the Brainerd/Little Falls student section. 

The Brainerd/Little Falls senior forward potted the game-winning goal just 10 seconds into overtime to send the Warriors to the state championship game, capping a roller-coaster contest where the momentum swung on a volatile pendulum. 

“Momentum shifts are huge,” Andover coach Melissa Volk said after the game. “All it takes is one (goal) to get yourself going, or kill off a penalty or anything like that.”

The Warriors chose to utilize both of Volk’s examples of momentum-swinging events, with Lucy Peterson scoring the game’s first goal and then escaping a five-on-three disadvantage four minutes later to enter the second period up 1-0 over the second-seeded Huskies (24-5). 

Abby Pohlkamp extended the Brainerd/Little Falls lead to 2-0 with just 36 seconds left in the second period, a goal that Warriors’ coach Jim Ernster highlighted in the postgame press conference. 

“It was a huge goal,” Ernster said. “It’s kind of like that double-dagger. You get the goal but then any time you score with less than a minute left, that’s always going to be something that lingers on the other team.”

The Warriors’ lead lingered for just over six minutes into the third period before Andover’s Kennedy Little put the Huskies on the board. Less than five minutes later, Hannah Stauffeneker tied the game at 2-2. 

“We just have a ton of confidence in these girls,” Ernster said of the team’s overall reaction to having their lead evaporate. “It’s rare that we give up more than two goals, knock on wood, and so to give up those two goals we still felt we were in good position.”

Senior goaltender Olivia King kept the third-seeded Warriors (25-4-1) in that position, turning away 38 of 40 shots against a high-powered Andover offense that hung seven goals on its quarterfinal opponent, Farmington. 

“It’s always exciting to get a lot of shots,” King said. “Like I’ve (said) before, (the forwards) take care of me, so I gotta take care of them.”

Ernster has had a front-row seat for all of King’s progression throughout her high school career. 

“I’ve been fortunate to have her since (she was) an eighth-grader, and I’ve seen a tremendous amount of good saves in the last five years,” Ernster said.

“To be able to perform on this big a stage, and to be able to perform at the level that she’s played the last two days is a credit to her preparation.”