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GHS: Edina Downs Blake In 6-2A Final

By Peter Odney , 02/15/19, 10:15PM CST

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Elli Strittmater made 27 saves and three Hornets scored to power Edina past Blake 3-2.


Edina celebrates after holding off Blake in Friday's 3-2 victory.

Hornets Have Chance At Third Straight Title

Two pieces of equipment could find their way to the Edina Hockey Hall of Fame: Elli Strittmater’s glove and Katie Davis’ shin pad. 

Strittmater made 27 saves, including a dozen with her glove-hand, and Davis scored a power-play goal that redirected off of her shin to help Edina slip past Blake 3-2 in the Class 2A, Section 6 finals on Friday night at Parade Ice Garden. 

The senior goaltender Strittmater said after the game that she thought it would never end. 

“The whole game was literally the longest game of my life, and yet it was over so fast,” Strittmater said, adding that her glove skills are nothing new. 

“My glove has always been a strong suit, so I was just glad that I was able to catch the puck.”

Edina Head Coach Sami Reber lauded Strittmater’s play and said that when the Hornets needed her most, she delivered. 

“This was by far her best game she played all season, and we needed her to come up big,” Reber said. “Blake’s an incredible team with the best scorers probably in the state, so I really can’t put into words how incredible (Strittmater) was tonight." 


Edina's Katie Davis (9) scores for the Hornets in Friday's victory.

The Bears took a 1-0 lead over the Hornets just over five minutes into the second period, an advantage that evaporated as Edina’s Tella Jungels scored 22 seconds later to tie the game. Davis then put the Hornets (24-4) ahead 2-1 after drawing a penalty on the previous play, flying down the side boards and being bodychecked by Blake’s Grace Johnson. 

“We told our kids that teams are going to have to drag us down if we keep moving our feet, and Katie Davis is somebody who takes that to heart,” Reber said after the postgame awards ceremony.

Davis’ drawn penalty came with a slightly painful caveat. 

“Yeah, I was still hurtin’,” Davis said with a grin. “Adrenaline took over. That was the main thing.” Davis added that the Hornets’ tough mentality won out after going down 1-0. 

“No matter what the score was, we always play like it’s zero-to-zero,” Davis said.

Izzy Daniel and Lily Delianedis were the goal-scorers for the Bears, with Delianedis' tally coming with three seconds left in regulation. 

Friday night’s game was a rematch of last season’s section final, which the Hornets also won en route to their second consecutive state championship. The Hornets will look to make it three state crowns in a row next week at the Xcel Energy Center. 

Blake (25-3) and Edina split the regular-season series, winning one game each. 

“We had beat them once, they had beat us once,” Strittmater said of the rubber match’s gravity. “It was really about who came to play, and I think we showed that today.


Izzy Daniel (8) scores the first goal of the game for Blake.

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