There were a lot of firsts for Wayzata this past weekend. For all of the players, it was their first trip to the state high school tournament. On Saturday they played in the school's first ever tourney final and a couple hours later they helped up and coming coaching star Pat O'Leary to his first ever state title. 

For one Trojan, it wasn't his first trip ever to the state tourney. Junior defenseman Hank Sorensen had been coming to the tournament with his dad to watch since elementary school. On Saturday night he also watched a pretty good game for five minutes as he was assessed a major for boarding. During that five minutes, the game completely changed course. The Trojans got probably the most important goal in school history when Mark Senden and Billy Duma finished off a two on one break to cut Eden Prairie's lead to 3-2 and from there the Trojans rolled. Getting another goal while Sorensen sat in the box two minutes later when Matt Nelson scored. "It was a great show, it was like I paid for a ticket and watched it myself," said inspirational leader Sorensen after the game in what was the most eventful press conference in a long time. 

With Sorensen out of the box and locked onto YHH Player of the Year Casey Mittelstadt, the other Trojans focused on goals. An unlikely hero, Logan Lindstrand intercepted a weak puck-clear from Eden Prairie and fired it toward the net for the game winner. "He practices those shots for 45 minutes after practice every day," Sorensen said with a tart smile on his face. "Now he's part of history, it couldn't have happened to a better person."

Saturday night was historic. The state crowned a new champion. It got a taste of what the future might look like with Pat O'Leary at the helm of one of the largest high schools and largest youth programs. Wayzata has the right formula in place for long term success - big numbers and a great feeder program with a very visible and active coach at all levels.