Eagles’ season comes to sudden end in section semifinals

Steve Persian stood outside the locker room occupied by his Eden Prairie girls hockey team at Braemar Arena on Tuesday night. 

He waited quietly and patiently, giving the squad a moment to themselves after a Section 2AA semifinal game they will undoubtedly remember for a very long time.

“You can’t really ask for anything more than that,” he said of their battle with Holy Family, which had ended just moments before.

One hour earlier, his team found themselves trailing the Fire, down 2-0 at the second intermission.

The third period of hockey would be either their last time together as a team, or a gateway to the section championship game.

“We went into the locker room between the second and third period, (and) I essentially said, ‘The balance of your season is in the next 17 minutes,’” Persian said. “And for them to go out and play a period like that, take advantage of being on the power play early in the period to get a goal and then get a second one to tie it up. You can’t ask for anything more.”

The Eagles had been outshot 33-17 through the first two periods. After a scoreless first, Eden Prairie senior goaltender and captain Tegan Swanson faced wave after wave of Holy Family attackers and took the best their offense could deliver throughout the second period.

Swanson, one of 10 semifinalists for the Jori Jones Award, given to the state’s most outstanding senior goaltender, would finish with 38 saves in the game.

But the Fire struck first. With one Eden Prairie skater in the penalty box, Holy Family lit up the board when sophomore forward Addy Cowan slipped the puck by Swanson for a 1-0 lead at the 9:53 mark.

Four minutes later, another sophomore, Kendall Gnos, scored to give the Fire a 2-0 lead with 3:06 left in the second period.

The goals underscored an unsettling period for the Eagles, who were coming off a rough first period and managed only three shots to Holy Family’s 13 on Swanson in the second.

“The beginning of the game, we kind of were standing around, watching their speed, and it took us by surprise a little bit,” Persian said. “The good thing is, we readjusted the second half of the first period, and then the third period was really a standout period for us when these kids came out and really played well.”

Trailing by two, the Eagles dominated the third period and took back momentum.

The line of senior forward Gianna Kowalkoski and sophomores Genevieve Streed and Kate Petrie were relentless on Holy Family goaltender Kayla Swartout.

Just 90 seconds into the final period, Kowalkoski put Eden Prairie on the board with a power play goal, with an assist to Petrie at the 1:30 mark.

Kowalkoski scored later in the game to tie the score at two. The even-strength goal, with assists to junior captain Ella Konrad and Streed with just 2:53 remaining in regulation, came after unyielding pressure in the Holy Family zone for much of the period.

“Gianna had a great game,” Persian said. “That line in general — Kowalkoski, Streed, and Petrie — played really well. They’re a very fluid line; they hustle.”

Persian also praised seventh grader Ava Moe for a “really good game,” adding, “She’s a kid that is going to continue to build upon her skills and just get better and better.”

Persian also liked Konrad’s play in leading the defensive unit against the Fire, as she led the group all season.  

“She’s probably a little bit upset with that penalty, but the truth is, she played a good game, as did our defense in general, and Tegan, all around, it was a good game,” he said.

Konrad’s penalty, a tripping call with just 1:02 remaining in regulation, carried over into the overtime period.

The Eagles were able to successfully kill off the penalty, but just 10 seconds after Konrad exited the penalty box, Holy Family’s Jenna Allen poked the puck through Swanson’s legs just as the goaltender was covering the puck with her glove.

It appeared as though Swanson had made the save. Konrad and junior defender Natalie McNeil, standing near the crease, did not react, thinking the puck had been frozen by their goaltender.

But the puck slipped by. And one minute and 12 seconds into the first overtime period, the season was suddenly over.

Holy Family advanced to the section final game with a 3-2 victory.

“It just so happened that we kill that penalty off in the overtime, and then they get kind of a garbage goal. And the truth is, those are the kind of goals that are scored this time of year,” Persian said. “And so I give them credit for battling and ultimately throwing that third one in, and I certainly wish them all the best.”

Persian finishes his second season at Eden Prairie, leading the Eagles to a 13-13-1 record.

After bowing out in the first round of sections last season, the Eagles advanced from the first round in 2024 and look to the future with high hopes.

“If you take a look at the losses that we had this year, 90% of them are against top-five teams,” Persian said. “I think that our season was a success in the fact that we competed and battled in virtually every game. We had a couple clunkers, but all in all, we competed in every game.”

Persian said Eden Prairie will lose only one forward from its top lines and return most of its defenders, except senior Lizzie Swartout.

“Lizzo is going to be heading off but I’m very, very optimistic at what this team can do next year,” he said, adding, “I’ve always said this all year long. Tegan’s a great goalie. We have good goaltending throughout our program, and so we think that we’ve got a very good offense, defense and goaltender. A good solid base returning next year.”