Kevin Delaney can finally celebrate his goals in front of someone other than Braemar Ice Arena staff members. 

The two-year veteran of the Edina junior varsity, Delaney has made the most of his senior season with the big club, scoring his fifth goal in three games as the Hornets downed Benilde-St. Margaret’s 5-2 on Thursday night. 

“You get a lot of fans,” Delaney said of the jump from early-evening JV to primetime varsity. “One coach said JV barely gets the popcorn vendor,” Delaney added.

The popcorn had barely begun to pop before Edina scored its first goal, as sophomore Jackson Borst beat Red Knight goaltender Carson Limesand five-hole less than four minutes into the opening period. Senior forwards Mason Nevers, and Liam Malmquist added goals for Hornets (2-0-1) in the first frame. 

The Nevers goal came off a fortunate bounce of a set of springy boards behind the Benilde-St. Margaret’s net, a bounce that Delaney says the Hornets intentionally use to their advantage. 

“We try to play the boards, especially on our dump-ins,” Delaney explained. “(We) try to get it so that the defense has to make a really (tough) play.”

Delaney notched a shorthanded goal 2:11 into the second period, stretching the Hornet lead to 4-0 before Cooper Gay broke the shutout for the Red Knights (1-1). A rash of Red Knight penalties followed, with the visitors committing four fouls in the final 11 minutes of the second stanza. 

Michael Shoemaker netted the fifth goal for the Hornets early in the third, and Benilde-St. Margaret’s freshman Adam Marshall notched his first varsity goal three minutes later for the game’s final score. 

Edina sophomore goaltender Louden Hogg stopped 19 of 21 shots and flashed a consistently quick glove throughout the contest despite not being tested for long stretches of the game. 

Hogg, who hails from Cheyenne, Wyoming, spent the last few seasons playing for the Colorado Thunderbirds and Nashville Jr. Predators, and said that the transition to high school hockey has come with its own set of challenges. 

“These kids are big, physical, (have) good shots, and obviously are older than just Under-16’s,” Hogg said, adding that his prowess with the glove is a homegrown talent. 

“At my house, throwing the ball against the wall, stuff like that,” Hogg said. 

Hogg has played every minute for the Hornets so far this season, posting a goals-against average of 1.90 and a save percentage of .900. 

The Hornets, ranked No. 3 in the latest Class 2A state coaches’ poll, will face Burnsville on Saturday, Dec. 1st in their next game, while the Red Knights will host Grand Rapids on the same day.