By Nick Gerhardt
Northfield’s second trip to the Class 2A state tournament set up differently than the first but it ended the same.
Fourth-seeded and No. 5-ranked Edina shutout the fifth-seeded and No. 8-ranked Raiders 5-0 in the state tournament quarterfinals. Two years ago the Hornets defeated Northfield 7-0 in the quarterfinals at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
Things had changed since that meeting. The Raiders entered this meeting with a gaudy 27-1 record and a resume to back it up. Northfield defeated No. 4-ranked Benilde-St. Margaret’s 4-3 this year and beat an Orono team poised to capture the Class A crown.
But Edina found a way to bottle up Raiders senior Ayla Puppe, the state’s leading scorer with 61 goals and 49 assists, and got its offense rolling in the second and third periods. It marked just the second time this season Puppe didn’t record a goal.
Hornets senior forward and leading scorer Hannah Halvorson recorded two goals and two assists in the win. Halvorson, a University of Wisconsin recruit, scored once in the second and third periods. She also assisted on both of Whitney Horton’s goals.
Horton, a junior forward committed to the University of St. Thomas, scored 3 minutes, 22 seconds into the second period to break a 0-0 deadlock. Halvorson notched her first goal at 11:22 of the period to make it 2-0.
Edina broke the game open in the third period. Horton scored again, just 1:37 into the period. Junior defender Brenna Prellwitz made it 4-0 with a goal at 5:48 and Halvorson capped the scoring with her second goal at 6:10 of the period.
The Hornets outshot the Raiders 39-8 with Northfield junior goalie Macy Mueller stopping 34 of the shots.
The Raiders move onto the consolation bracket and face Maple Grove Friday at noon at TRIA Rink in St. Paul. The No.10-ranked Crimson (20-8-1) lost 2-1 to top-seeded and No. 1-ranked Minnetonka Thursday in the quarterfinals. Edina will face Minnetonka in the semifinals. On the other side of the bracket, second-seeded Hill-Murray faces third-seeded Andover. Second-ranked Hill-Murray defeated Roseau 8-2 while third-ranked Andover beat Rosemount 6-0.