Hill-Murray Pioneer Hockey: Game 2009-03-12

First Period
EP, David Rath, 1:42.
EP, Nick Leddy (Mike Erickson), 10:56 (pp).

Second Period
HM, Jack Walsh (Jordan Johnson, Jeff Westerhaus), 2:36 (pp).

Third Period
HM, Ben Bahe (Chris Casto, Tyler Zepeda), 3:20 (pp).

Overtime
EP, Mike Erickson (Nick Leddy), 2:46.

Shots by period
Hill-Murray	6	6	6	0	-	18
Eden Prairie	10	7	4	6	-	27

Goalies Minutes GA Saves Result
HM - Tim Shaughnessy 54 3 24 L
EP - Andrew Ford 54 2 16 W

Power Plays Goals Attempts Time
Hill-Murray 2 2 2:03
Eden Prairie 1 3 3:44

Eden Prairie opened the 2009 State Tournament with a dramatic overtime win after they had surrendered an early two goal lead. Hill-Murray was trying to win its third consecutive postseason overtime game, and was finally defeated but it took a seven minute video review before Mike Erickson's goal was allowed to stand.

The game was evenly contested with tight checking on both sides through regulation, but overtime belonged to the Eagles. After Pioneer goalie Tim Shaughnessy had already made a series of great saves, Eden Prairie controlled an offensive zone faceoff and worked the puck to Nick Leddy who sent a shot on net from the left point. Erickson then slipped in the rebound as bodies were falling all over in front of the net.

Hill-Murray found itself in an early hole as David Rath scored an unassisted goal two minutes into the first period. Rath picked off a pass in the neutral zone and beat Shaughnessy with a hard low shot from 30 feet. Then senior defenseman Nick Leddy showed off the skills that have made him a leading candidate for the Mr. Hockey award, starting a rush from his own end and scoring on a rebound of his own shot for a power play goal at 10:56.

The Pioneers found their skating legs by the end of the first period, but Eden Prairie's steady defense allowed few open shots all game. Yet Hill-Murray climbed back into the game with some strong defense of its own and two power play goals. Jack Walsh's tip of Jordan Johnson's long shot cut the lead to 2-1.

Two successive Hill-Murray penalties gave Eden Prairie over a minute of 5-on-3, but they either missed the net or were robbed on several chances by Shaughnessy.

Hill-Murray got the tying goal early in the third when Chris Casto drove to the net and dropped a pass in the slot for Ben Bahe, who put a backhand into the upper corner.

Eden Prairie nearly went ahead when Mitch Rogge missed an open net wide on a bizarre play that started when a Pioneer defenseman collided with a linesman. Shaughnessy made a great glove save in the final minute of regulation, tipping Kyle Rau's shot wide. Hill-Murray's best chance in overtime came when Bahe drove to the net and the puck rolled through the crease, but nobody could put it in.

Notes: Eden Prairie was ranked #1 in the state in the end-of-regular season poll but #2 in the tourney since they lost twice to top seed Edina... Eden Prairie has four previous tourney appearances and has never finished higher than 4th...After being eliminated from championship contention, Hill-Murray teams were 6-0 from 1975-1978, but 2-9 since. One of those wins was against Eden Prairie in 1992, the only other time these schools played each other.