Peyton Hemp can’t recall her instructions to her Andover teammates coming out of a timeout with 1:34 remaining in regulation. 

“I don’t even really remember,” Hemp said after the game. “It’s all kind of a blur, honestly.”

Whatever Hemp said, even if she can’t remember, worked. 

Hemp shot low on the blocker-side of Minnetonka goaltender Brynn Dulac with 42 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime, where Hemp’s linemate Gabby Krause scored 18 seconds into the extra session to win the game.

Krause’s goal was the winner, but the juice the Huskies (27-2) used as fuel in the fourth period was generated by Hemp.

“She’s a very determined and driven player,” Andover coach Melissa Volk said of Hemp. “In big situations like that, that’s when your big players step up.”

Krause said that the players fed off Hemp’s goal during their first shift of overtime. 

“When she scored, we had all the momentum,” Krause said of Hemp’s goal. “Every single player was positive, and we all had the energy on the bench.”

On the Minnetonka pine, coach Tracy Cassano said that her players also weren’t fazed by the game’s critical implications. 

“We were calm on the bench, and the players were too,” Cassano said. “It is disappointing, obviously, because you’re two minutes away from victory and going to the championship game.”

A body-checking penalty called on Minnetonka’s Lacey Martin, one of the Skipper goal-scorers in the game, also hampered the lead-preservation attempt by the Skippers (22-7-1). 

“That neutral zone penalty call was a tough one,” Cassano said. 

“I’m not ever going to blame an official for costing a team a game, but there were other calls that were not made during the game,” Cassano continued. 

“To call that one at that juncture of the game in the neutral zone that didn’t really impact the play, that was a tough one.”

Krause’s top-shelf goal sends Andover to the state title game, a dance the Huskies weren’t invited to last season after falling to Brainerd/Little Falls in the semifinals, also in overtime.