It was an agonizing way for a season to end.
Park had battled third-seeded Apple Valley evenly the entire game, only to lose on a shot with 31.1 seconds left Saturday at Apple Valley Sports Arena in the Section 3AA semifinals.
The Eagles advanced with the 3-2 win to the section finals while the Park Wolfpack will skate no more this season. Apple Valley (16-9-2) will play fourth-seeded Rosemount for the section title Wednesday, Feb. 14. Rosemount (13-9-5) stunned top-seeded and seventh-ranked Lakeville North 4-3 in overtime in the other section semifinal.
Park ends the season with a deceptive 9-17-1 record.
“We played exactly how we wanted to play and I thought we controlled a lot of that game,” said Park head coach Bay Shock. “We just didn’t get that bounce at the end. Man, I’m just proud of the kids. The seniors that played and we had three major injuries that aren’t even playing. It was just a testament to those kids in the locker room and how they can play.
Junior Kyra Stofer of the Wolfpack scored the first goal of the game in the first period. Then Apple Valley pushed in the next two scored to take a 2-1 lead. The Wolfpack knotted the game at 2-all on a goal by senior standout Maggie Jensen at 11:09 of the second period.
Jensen was one of just five seniors on this young Park team, along with Cassidy Moen, Sam Miller, Tori Stepka and Lizzy Martin.
The third period was an intense battle with both teams getting good shots, only to be turned away by good goal paly and good defense.
The game looked like it was going into overtime until the Eagles pulled it out in the final minute. It was a heartbreaker for the Wolfpack, who few thought would even be in the semifinal. Park limped into the playoffs with a 0-3-1 record in their final four games of the regular season, but then pulled off a stunning 3-1 win at Cretin-Derham Hall Wednesday, Feb. 7, in the section quarterfinals.
“Just that win alone (at Cretin) -- the people around the rink -- it just got us up and now you’ve got to carry it over,” Shock said. “I told them they played their butts off. They played so hard and it’s all about the seniors right now.”
Park sophomore goalie Alayna Adamez stopped 25 of 28 shots for an .893 success rate.
Stella Daly, Lauren Osland and Sam Miller had assists for Park in the game.
Park 3, Cretin-Derham Hall 1
Lauren Osland put in a pair of goals in the second period and the seventh-seeded Park Wolfpack shocked second-seeded Cretin-Derham Hall 3-1 in a Section 3AA quarterfinal Wednesday.
Playing on the Raiders home ice at Charles M. Schultz Highland Arena, Park took a 1-0 lead in the first period on a goal by Maggie Jensen. Osland and Maleah McMorrow had assists on the play.
The Wolfpack (9-16-1) then added Osland’s two second-period goals for a commanding 3-0 lead, the second a short-handed score.
Cretin (14-12) scored its only goal 16:08 into the third period as the Wolfpack advanced to the section semifinals.
Alayna Adamez got the net win, stopping 21 of 22 shots by the Raiders for a .955 success rate.
The win was Park’s first over Cretin this season. The Raiders had won 5-0 and 3-1 during the regular season.
