In its section final against Orono over a week ago, Breck needed only 92 seconds of overtime before scoring the winning goal to send it to the State Tournament.
On Saturday afternoon facing an overtime against top-seeded Warroad for the state championship, Breck wanted to beat that time from the section final.
It did, needing all of eight seconds to secure its second state title in school history.
Sadie Lindsay crashed the net and put home a rebound past Warroad’s Quinn Kuntz to give the Mustangs the 2018 Class A championship in girls’ hockey. And as she said after the game, it was their goal to beat that 92-second mark to score in overtime.
“Gabby Billing made an awesome pass at the end there, just slid it through. I kind of had a quick shot at the end. Our goal was to score quicker than we did in the section final.”
In a third period that was completely back and forth, Lindsay had a goal taken off the board for Breck that would have given it a 2-1 lead with just 2:46 to play. But upon review, Lindsay was crashing the net and lost an edge and ended up dislodging the net from its moorings before the puck crossed the line.
“There’s nothing better than going out on top”
“There were a lot of emotions going on there,” said Olivia Mobley. “When that goal was disallowed I was on the bench, [emotions] definitely shifted. I think instead of turning down/upset on ourselves we turned around and got right back on the ice and we were determined to score right on the next shift.”
Sixteen seconds after the disallowed goal, Mobley scored her second of the game and fifth of the tournament to put the Mustangs ahead 2-1 with 2:30 to play.
It looked as if Breck was going to hold on and win the title in regulation, but with 27 seconds left, Marlie Johnston tied the game for Warroad on the power play to send the game to overtime.
“We were fortunate to still be in the game at that point,” said Warroad head coach David Marvin.
After the swing of emotions in the final three minutes, Breck head coach Rhonda (Curtin) Engelhardt had some words of advice for her team, as she had been down this road herself in the state tournament as a player.
“There’s a lot of emotions going on,” Engelhardt said. “I just wanted to make sure they were still confident. The game wasn’t over. We still had it. Give it everything you got, that was the theme. We aren’t done. They needed to hear that.”
Some players chimed in as well, but the message was loud and clear on the Breck bench — win the game. They did just that eight seconds later.
“It was one of the greatest feelings in my life, honestly,” Lindsay said. “To win a state championship has been a huge dream of mine.”
Meanwhile, for Marvin’s top-seeded Warriors, it was more of a what could have been for his team. “We weren’t very good the first two periods,” he said. “Give Breck credit. Their top kids can fly. We had trouble keeping up with their speed.
“You cant play one period and win a championship.”
For Marvin’s counterpart Engelhardt, she becomes the first person in league history to win a championship as both a player and coach. But the day and win were not about her.
“For me, coaching its all about the players,” she said. “I want them to be successful. I want them to have that feeling of ‘best feeling ever’. I was so proud of how they battled. They could have easily thrown in the towel with all the things going on.”
But she did have one message for her seniors. “There’s nothing better than going out on top,” she said.
Much like their coach, the three seniors on Breck did get to experience that feeling on Saturday.
That’s a feeling they too will never forget.
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