What do you get when you’re named player of the game for the Andover Huskies?

You get to wear a mushroom hat. As in, the mushroom hat the character Toad wears in Nintendo’s Mario franchise. 

Which is how Huskies’ goaltender Amanda Pelkey came to be carrying the red-and-white speckled remnant of a team Halloween party after the No. 2 ranked Huskies upset top-rated Edina on Thursday nigh at Braemar Ice Arena. 

However, during a stretch of just a few seconds midway through the second period, Pelkey’s player of the game honor was in question. 

During that sequence, the puck teetered on top Pelkey’s left pad Pelkey, and the game teetered right along with it. 

Edina took one whack at the puck. Two whacks. Fans clamored for the shrill of a referee’s whistle. Coaches hollered for players to play until a stoppage. Through it all, Pelkey remained still. 

“I knew it wasn’t in the net, at least,” the senior said after the game. “I just know that if you don’t know where the puck is, don’t move.”

So Pelkey did as she’s been taught, the whistle blew, and the Huskies maintained their 1-0 lead, an advantage that ultimately led to their upset of the Hornets. 

“I think it was amazing,” junior forward Gabby Krause said of Pelkey’s 25-save shutout. “I think it was the best game I’ve ever seen her play.”

Pelkey will have a chance to make more of those highlight-reel memories this season after backing up Cassidy Stumo last year and playing in only a handful of games as a sophomore. 

“She did a great job,” Andover coach Melissa Volk said of Pelkey. “What a great opportunity for her, her senior year, to play a game like that.”

While Pelkey was perfect, Volk would have appreciated a better offensive performance, and maybe less emphasis on trying to make the flashiest play possible. 

“Oh, we’ve been talking about that,” Volk said, explaining that the Huskies have been preaching grit in the offensive zone throughout the offseason. “We can do all the pretty stuff off the rushes, but if we could get some dirty goals this year, that would be nice.”

Edina goaltender Uma Corniea turned in her own stellar performance, stopping 25 of 26 shots and consistently infuriating Andover’s numerous talented forwards. Krause scored the lone goal in the win, scoring from close range after Corniea had made a dozen stops to keep the Hornets in the game.

“It’s definitely frustrating because nothing is going your way,” Krause said of going up against a talented goalie with the hot hand. “(But) you always have to keep a positive mentality.”

In addition to scoring the game's lone goal, Krause and the rest of the Huskies put on a clinic in penalty-killing, denying Edina on all six of the Hornets' chances with the player-advantage.

Outside of Pelkey, freshman forward Isa Goettl made the defensive play of the game, diving across the slot to stop a centering pass intended for an open Hornet late in the third period.  

Upcoming for the Huskies is a Nov. 12 date on the road with Anoka/Spring Lake Park, while Edina hosts Cretin-Derham Hall on Nov. 15.