Edina opened the Minnesota State High School League’s Boys Hockey season with a three-goal loss to Moorhead, the defending Class AA champion, on Nov. 21. The Hornets were missing four players from that game, including senior goalie Chase Bjorgaard. Why? They played hockey on the same night as Edina was defeating Moorhead in a thrilling Class AAAAAA Prep Bowl championship game at U.S. Bank Stadium. Bjorgaard led the way with a Prep Bowl-record 320 yards rushing on 31 carries and six total touchdowns.

It’s another state tournament for both schools, but the focus now is squarely on hockey with both rosters intact.

No. 3 Edina (22-6-1) forged another shot at Moorhead, the defending Class AA champion, with a 3-1 victory over No. 6 Andover in the final game of the big-school quarterfinals on Thursday, March 5 at Grand Casino Arena. Junior forward Bode McConnell recorded a first period pure hat trick to send the Hornets to their ninth victory over their past 10 state quarterfinal games.

Just more than two hours earlier, No. 2 Moorhead advanced with a 4-1 victory over No. 7 Lakeville South.

McConnell’s offensive surge in the first period created a mountain that the Huskies (11-15-3) couldn’t ascend. He completed his trifecta of goals on a high shot with 1:10 remaining in the first period. It was his second consecutive game with a hat trick. He also scored three goals in Edina’s 3-1 victory over Wayzata in the Section 6AA championship game last week. He has 36 goals this season.

That lead proved to be crucial, especially in the second period when Andover, which started the season 1-5-2 and then endured a 1-7 stretch midway through, controlled play and had a significant territorial advantage. Sophomore forward Jack Rykkeli scored with 7:15 left in the second period when he pounced on a rebound that Bjorgaard couldn’t secure.

Less than three minutes later, it appeared that Andover had climbed to within a goal after a blast from junior forward Camden Langfeld. But after review the goal was disallowed because a teammate was offside. Included in Andover’s offensive push was hitting the crossbar and hitting a pipe.

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