Hornets start hot, roll past Cadets 6-3

For the fourth time this season, the Eden Prairie Eagles and Edina Hornets will face off, this time in the biggest stage of them all: the Boys Class AA Championship. The Hornets punched their ticket with a 6-3 victory over the Saint Tomas Academy Cadets Friday night. 

The Hornets absolutely dominated the Cadets in the first period. A barrage goals late in the frame got Chorske, Malmquist, and Jungels all on the scoresheet. By the time the first period had ended, the shots on goal were 17-1 in favor of Edina. 

The Cadets came out in the second period hot, and got a quick goal from Luke Herzog. Jett Jungels responded with a goal of his own later in the period to make it 4-1 Hornets before the second intermission. Saint Thomas Academy still had just 10 shots on goal through two periods, but clearly the second was much more productive than the first. 

In the third, the Cadets struck at 4:29 thanks to a snipe from senior forward Rob Christy. Edina answered less than 30 seconds later with the second goal of the game from Liam Malmquist. Carter Henry answered for STA, but Malmquist sealed the hat trick with an empty netter in the final seconds, giving Edina a 6-3 victory over the Cadets.

With the victory, Edina is headed to the Class AA Championship for the first time since 2013-14, also the last time they won a state title. Eden Prairie will be their opponent, who last played in the Class AA Championship in 2016 against Wayzata. 

The teams will square off at 7pm Saturday night.