For the fourth straight season, the Benilde-St. Margaret’s girls’ hockey team was participating in the section 6AA final, but unlike their previous attempts, the Red Knights found themselves victorious and heading to their first state tournament since the 2008 season with a 3-2 victory over Wayzata.

The Red Knights had faced the Trojans earlier in the season and played to a 3-3 draw, but this meeting saw the Red Knights victorious. Senior Caitlin Reilly scored the first goal of the game and the Red Knights took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. Wayzata countered in the second period to even the score, but seconds into the third period, Reilly added her second goal of the game and gave BSM the 2-1 lead.

Wayzata tied the game with 10 minutes remaining, but the Red Knights got the winning goal from senior captain Kelly Pannek who found the upper-corner on a slapshot to give the Red Knights the 3-2 lead. Wayzata made one final push, but the BSM defense held off the onslaught and preserved their the lead.

The Red Knights break their three-year section final losing streak and will advance to the Class AA state tournament where they will be one of the favorites to win the state title.