Edina has already locked up this season's Lake Conference championship. And a No. 1 seed in the Class 2A, Section 2 playoffs is all but a given.
So, with two regular-season games remaining, what’s left for the Hornets, ranked No. 1 in the Class 2A state coaches’ poll from Sept. 25, to accomplish?
A season sweep of conference and section rival Minnetonka in our Top Game of the Week would be nice. Closing out an undefeated regular season? Even better.
Anything that provides maximum momentum heading into the playoffs is important for the Hornets (14-0-0, 10-0-0), who, as the section’s No. 1 seed, have been upended in the section semifinals each of the last two seasons.
Casey Ott, Sammy Presthus and Oscar Smythe are among the scoring leaders for the balanced Hornets, who feature junior Hank Stechmann in goal.
Minnetonka (10-1-3, 6-1-3), a state semifinalist last fall, could steal a busload of momentum heading into the postseason with an upset of Edina, which snuck past the Skippers 3-2 on Sept. 14 in their previous regular-season meeting.
The No. 6-2A Skippers have allowed just eight goals this season (two fewer than Edina), while boasting a dynamic scorer in junior Dylan Olson (12 goals) and one of the state’s top defenders in senior Andres Rivas.