Roseau 3, Warriors 2
Four overtimes
The key: Roseau's Ella Helgeson scored with 1:20 left in the fourth overtime
Overall: BLF finishes 25-3, Ros 19-8-1
BEMIDJI-Four overtimes.
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That was the only appropriate way to settle a classic Section 8-2A championship battle Friday at Bemidji Community Arena.
Roseau's Ella Helgeson broked the Brainerd/Little Falls Warriors' collective hearts when she scored with 1:20 remaining in the fourth overtime to give the Rams a scintillating 3-2 victory. Helgeson retrieved a puck deep in the BLF zone and lifted a high shot over Warriors' goalie Olivia King who was superb in net.
The exhausted teams played almost 100 minutes of hockey before the second-seeded Rams won their fifth section title in 10 years. The first overtime was eight minutes, the second 17 minutes, the third eight minutes and the fourth 15:40 at which point Helgeson ended the marathon.
Top-seeded BLF finished the greatest season in program history with a 25-3 record. It was the first section final appearance for the Warriors.
King and her counterpart in the Roseau net, Kiana Flaig, were outstanding. Both were almost flawless throughout regulation and overtime.
Cheyenne Abear and Grace Schulte scored for the Warriors. Kayla Santal and Lindsey Santl scored the other Roseau goals.
In the first overtime, both teams had power-play opportunities in a frantic eight minutes. The best scoring chance was by Brainerd's Gabbie Smith who hit the post with 17 seconds left.
In a scoreless third period of regulation, the Warriors failed to capitalize on a 5-on-3 power play. Both teams cranked 10 shots in the third.
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Five penalties were called in a chaotic second period during which the Warriors tied it 2-2 on a Schulte goal. The Warriors' junior defenseman fired from the point into a mass of skates and sticks in front and the puck eventually slipped through Flaig's pads.
Both teams were unable to score in 4-on-3 advantages during the second in which the Warriors outshot Roseau 11-7.
Abear opened the scoring less than three minutes into the first during which the Rams maintained a 13-7 edge in shots.
Stationed in the slot in front of Flaig, Abear took a crisp pass from the right boards from Lindsey Booth and slapped it over Flaig's right shoulder.
It stayed 1-0 BLF until the 14:12 mark when Kayla Santl rapped a backhanded rebound past King who finished with 11 first-period saves.
Coralling a BLF turnover, the Rams' Lindsey Santl darted in on King and went forehand/backhand to bury the puck for a 2-1 Roseau edge.
Roseau 2 0 0 0 0 0 1-3
Brainerd/LF 1 1 0 0 0 0 0-2
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Four overtimes
First period: BLF-Cheyenne Abear (Lindsey Booth, Sophie Robinson) 2:58; R-Kayla Santl (Lindsey Santl, Jenna Byfuglien) 14:12; R-Lindsey Santl 15:47
Second period: BLF-Grace Schulte 6:18
Fourth overtime: R-Ella Helgeson 15:40
Goalies: Brd-Olivia King; R-Kiana Flaig.
