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ST. PAUL — Grace Zhan's 36 saves were the difference for Hill-Murray Friday night as the Pioneers earned a 3-1 Class AA semifinal victory over Andover at Xcel Energy Center.

The Pioneers were heavily outshot in the contest, 37-16, but Zhan came up big multiple times to help propel her team to its first state title game since 2015. Zhan, a Dartmouth commit, is a finalist for the this winter.

"I'm used to having pucks coming at me all the time," joked the goaltender after the game, saying that she regularly stops hundreds of pucks in practice every day. "As a goalie, my job is to track the puck, make the save and then focus on the next save that I'm saving."

No. 2-seeded Hill-Murray will play the winner of No. 1 Minnetonka and No. 4 Edina in the Class AA championship game on Saturday (Feb. 24) at 7 p.m. Andover will play the loser in the third-place game.

Minnetonka has been involved in two extremely tight replay reviews so far at the state tournament.

On Thursday night, Maple Grove was convinced it should have been awarded a tying goal in the third period.

On Friday in the second Class AA semifinal of the evening, No. 4 seed Edina was awarded the eventual game-winning goal after an extended replay review on their way to a 3-2 win over the top-seeded Skippers.

The review seemed to focus on whether or not Hornets forward Brenna Prellwitz had directed the puck into the net with her hand, but while every goal is reviewed at the X, no official announcement is made in the arena regarding the reason for — nor detailed determination of — any extra check.

Edina will play Hill-Murray for the state title on Saturday night.

The state final berth is the first for Edina since 2021.

Jason Wachter / The Rink Live

The Wildcats girls hockey team is headed to the Class 1A state championship game, in its first-ever state tournament appearance, after many nails were bitten and nerves were frayed Friday afternoon.

What an impression Dodge County is making in its first trip to the Xcel Energy Center.

After shutting out Fergus Falls on Wednesday afternoon in their first-ever Class 1A state tournament game, the No. 3-ranked and No. 3-seeded Wildcats earned their second state-tournament victory on Friday in impressive fashion.

Dodge County scored three second-period goals and received a jaw-dropping performance from junior goalie Ida Huber in holding off No. 2 Orono in a state semifinal game.

Jason Wachter / The Rink Live

For 31 seconds, Warroad's hopes of returning to a third straight Class A state title game hung in the balance.

After top-seeded Holy Angels tied their semifinal at two in the third period, the Warriors came back down the ice and Taylor Reese scored her second goal of the tournament with 9:47 left in regulation, putting the No. 4-seeded Warriors ahead for good in a 3-2 win Friday at Xcel Energy Center.

David Marvin's Warriors, the two-time defending Class A champions, will have the chance to complete a three-peat on Saturday against Dodge County in the state title game.

Reese, who is in her first year with Warroad and also scored the overtime game-winner in a quarterfinal win over Proctor/Hermantown, corraled a Vivienne Marcowka pass from below the goal line and fired a shot into the far side of the net from in tight for the winning goal.