Peter Colby’s game-winning goal in overtime of the Class 2A state championship game was preordained. 

“Our manager in the locker room before the third said ‘you’re going to be the one’,” Colby said during the postgame press conference. “We came together, those six seniors, and got the job done.”

Those six seniors, along with the rest of the Hornets, were held silent for the first two periods, as Eden Prairie held the Hornets to just seven shots over the first two frames while pumping 26 shots on the Edina net. 

“Going into the third we (had) played two pretty much flawless periods,” Eden Prairie coach Lee Smith said. “Our kids really played with courage and heart tonight,” Smith added. 

Courage and heart could not penetrate Edina’s Louden Hogg, who stopped 31 shots for the Hornets (27-2-1) and allowed for their dramatic third-period comeback. 

“He was amazing,” Smith said of Hogg. “We had a lot of first shots. We had the power plays in the second,” Smith continued. “It would’ve been nice to put away a couple of those chances.”

Drew Holt put Eden Prairie (19-10-2) up 1-0 in the first, bolstering the Eagles’ confidence. Holt’s speed was also responsible for drawing a penalty in the second period during a three-penalty stretch for the Hornets. 

Simply surviving until the third period, Edina tied the game on a goal by Kevin Delaney, then 22 seconds later took a 2-1 lead on Colby’s first goal of the night. Delaney, a player who skated for the Edina Junior Gold program as a freshman before suiting up on the high school’s junior varsity for two seasons, assisted on the go-ahead goal. 

“I was never on like, an ‘A’ team or ‘AA’ team,” Delaney said. “It’s pretty cool now reflecting back on not just my career, but all our hockey careers through Edina.”

Clayton Schultz scored his second goal of the season for the Eagles to force overtime, setting the stage for Colby’s instant-classic goal. 

After taking advantage of an Eden Prairie turnover in its own zone, Jett Jungels slid around the Eagle net before slipping a pass into the slot for Colby to one-time home, fulfilling the prophecy spoken into existence by manager Jack Goetzman. 

Giles credited to work ethic of both Delaney, who finished the season with 17 goals, and Colby, who was listed as a third-line wing on the Hornets’ pre-tournament depth chart. 

“These are two of the guys that have improved the most over the last couple (of) years,” Giles said. “These two have worked extremely hard. Their game has stepped up ten-fold from where they were a year ago.”

Hogg was also an unlikely superstar, as the Cheyenne, Wyoming transplant who allowed three goals on 23 shots in the previous game against St. Thomas Academy. 

“Nothing compares to Minnesota hockey,” Hogg said with a grin. “It’s something else."