Third time is the charm for Ponies

Stillwater, defeated twice by Roseville during the regular season, bested the Raiders in overtime of the final of the Section 4AA girls hockey playoffs Saturday night to punch their ticket for the state tournament. The Ponies clinched the sectional on an overtime goal by Amanda Cartony at 1:32 of the extra session after earlier squandering a 2-0 lead at Aldrich Arena. Stillwater opened the contest with a power play goal from Cassandra Salmen at 9:20 of the first period and extended its advantage to two goals in the third frame on an even-strength goal by Caitlyn Hewes at 3:09. Roseville wouldn't be held down for long, however, promptly returning fire with an even-strength strike by Kayla Capistrant at 4:24 and leveling the count at 7:10 on a goal by Ahna Logan to send the contest into the added session before Cartony settled matters. Stillwater goaltender Marah Sobczak earned the victory with 34 saves, while Roseville netminder Erika Allen logged 22 stops in defeat. The Ponies, ranked second in Class AA heading into the sectional final against the top-ranked Raiders, earned the No. 1 seed for this week's Class AA State Tournament and will face Lakeville South in the first round on Feb. 26. Hopkins took the two seed and take on Irondale in Thursday's opening round. Edina was awarded the No. 3 seed and play Cloquet-Esko-Carlton, with No. 4 Eagan to play Elk River/Zimmerman.