If there was a moment in Tella Jungels’ young life that could have matched committing to the University of Minnesota, it occurred on Friday night at Braemar Arena. 

The sophomore forward banged in a rebound during the second period of the Hornets’ resounding 7-1 win over Class 2A, Section 6 rival Cretin-Derham Hall, marking her first goal as a member of Hornets’ varsity. 

“I’d have to say they’re both equally exciting,” Jungels said after the win. 

“The ‘U’ is my future, but scoring a varsity goal is really meaningful because I’ve wanted it for so long.”

Until she does depart for Dinkytown, Jungels intends to contribute to a loaded Hornet lineup that at last count featured six other Division I commits in seniors Lolita Fidler (Harvard), Emily Oden (Minnesota) and Brooke Tucker (Northeastern), and juniors C.C. Bowlby (Dartmouth) and Mallory Uihlein (Penn State), and Annie Kuehl (Princeton).  

“She grinds every day, she comes to practice (giving) a hundred and ten percent,” Edina head coach Sami Reber said of Jungels. 

“You cheer for the kids like that.

Jungels’ score sparked a three-goal run for the Hornets, ranked No. 1 in the latest state coaches’ poll, giving the home team a 4-1 lead after two periods. 

“We started off a little slower than we all wanted to, but as the game went on we got better and better and just started rolling,” Jungels said.

Fidler recorded three goals and added an assist, while junior forward C.C. Bowlby notched a goal and handed out three helpers in the win. Emily Oden and Aliyah Lance scored once each for the Hornets.

Despite the loss, Cretin-Derham Hall goaltender Megan Meyers played a solid game, turning away 29 shots. Junior forward and Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute commit Emily King scored the lone goal of the evening for the Raiders (1-2).   

Sending a section rival into running time is one way to plant yourself into the opposition’s memory, according to Reber. 

“They knew it was a section opponent, so they wanted to kind of instill some fear in them come section time way down the road,” Reber said.