Rochester Lourdes senior forward Emma Schmitz will have one heck of a story to tell about her breakaway during the quarterfinals of the 2020 Class 1A State Tournament. 

She just might not remember all of it. 

“Honestly, I don’t know what I did,” Schmitz said with a chuckle after scoring in overtime to send the Eagles to the semifinals. “I just went down, did a move. My coach told me to go five-hole if I ever got a chance again, and that’s what I did.”

Eagles coach Jeff True said he advised Schmitz to pick her spot after watching a replay of Schmitz’s first goal from the first period, also scored on a breakaway. 

“When the lights are bright, she shines,” True said of Schmitz.

The lights are even brighter at the Xcel Energy Center, and True said that Schmitz giving his team the lead early in the game kept them from being blinded by those same beams. 

“In this environment, getting the lead is huge, because you start gripping your stick a little more when you’re down,” True said. 

While Schmitz put the Eagles (18-10) up 1-0 in the first, senior goaltender Corrin Hanson kept them up, stopping 10 shots in the opening frame and finishing with 28 saves in the win. 

“For me, I always have to get the first shot just to kind of be comfortable,” Hanson said. “So, after I was making a lot of those saves, I just became comfortable.”

In contrast to Hanson’s bliss, South St. Paul (19-8-1) was never at ease, serving four penalties in the first and giving the Eagles five total chances with the player-advantage. 

“That was one of our keys going into the game — no penalties,” longtime Packer coach Dave Palmquist said. “Out girls play hard, our girls play aggressive. I thought our penalty kill was outstanding tonight.”

South St. Paul senior forward Brynn Sexauer tied the game with under four minutes to play in regulation to force overtime before the eventual heroics of Schmitz.  

Palmquist added that the extra time spent killing penalties fatigued the Packers in the end. 

“We’re limited in the number of girls that are getting out there, and when we have to kill, it really drains them of a lot of energy,” Palmquist said. “That was probably a big factor throughout the game.”

The win marks the first time that Rochester Lourdes, an independent program since splitting with host Rochester John Marshall before the 2017-2018 season, has advanced past the quarterfinal round in two trips to the state tournament. The Eagles will face No. 1 seed Breck on Friday at 1:30 P.M.