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BEMIDJI, Minn. — With 113 seconds left, Millie Knott launched a 150-foot shot into an empty net. The first celebration commenced.
The junior defenseman thought she put the finishing touches on the Bemidji girls hockey team’s third-ever section title. The Lumberjacks led 4-1 over Section 8AA rival Moorhead inside a deafening Bemidji Community Arena.
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But the Spuds were the reigning champs for a reason.
On the ensuing faceoff, Bemidji senior forward Megan Berg took a high-sticking penalty. Moorhead was already on the power play, and goaltender Alyssa Jacobsen was called to the bench for a 6-on-3 advantage.
Moorhead, which was 0-for-5 on the power play to that point, got one back. Anna Bjorkman pulled the Spuds within two before Haylee Melquist made it 4-3 with a second power-play goal with 54.5 seconds remaining.
“I actually hugged (assistant coach) Neil Holmstrom, thinking we had this in the bag,” Bemidji coach Mike Johnson said of when Knott made it 4-1. “When they scored to make it 4-3, at least the power plays were over at that point.”
Berg said, “I just kept thinking about how there’s no way this is happening. We had to cool down. We had to take it one second at a time.”
Bemidji, which hasn’t been to state since 2007 and has spent most of the 19 years since then as a bottom feeder in 8AA, took the road less traveled one more time.
Goaltender Lily Lauer made a pair of timely saves. A bevy of Bemidji defenders sold out to block shots. Center Bailey Rupp won crucial faceoffs, including the last one with three seconds left, to put the finishing touches on a 4-3 win and the program’s third section championship.
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“It’s surreal; just an unreal feeling,” said Berg, one of only two rostered BHS seniors for the section tournament. “All the emotions are coming out of me. I can’t explain this feeling. This group of people is just, you can’t ask for anything better than them. They work so hard, they’re upbeat, they’re caring. Everybody on this team is so amazing.”
Senior defenseman Taylor Bjerke said, “I wanted it so bad. You can’t describe a feeling like this. I believed in us all along that we’d make it. I could feel it; I could feel it in the beginning of the game. We were all confident and worked hard. It just feels good.”
The Lumberjacks couldn’t have dreamt of a better start.
Bemidji went into the first intermission with a 3-0 lead. Rupp, the Jacks’ leading scorer who entered Wednesday’s contest with 42 goals in 19 games, scored twice. Emma Greiner made it 3-0 with her second goal this season.
“It’s not even the goals, but more just how well we came out and played,” Rupp said. “We were forechecking so hard. Every game, we talk about fast starts and getting on the board early. That’s exactly what happened. It was so huge.”
The ice leveled out more in the second period.
Moorhead got one back off Brooke Lane’s stick a little over five minutes into the middle frame. The Spuds had a chance to make it a one-goal game on their third power play in the back half of the second period, but came up short. Bemidji entered the section championship with the state’s second-best penalty kill at 92.2%.
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“They’re a great hockey team,” Rupp said of Moorhead. “Our last game against them, it wasn’t our best game. You have to be your best to beat Moorhead. We just had so much energy today. We were winning this game, no matter what. This is our place, this is our rink. We own this place. We were ready for them.”
Knott’s goal was the first for either team in the third period, despite there being plenty of power plays. Bemidji took four penalties in the final 17 minutes alone, including two in the final two minutes.
“I’m going to lie, it was really nerve-wracking,” Bjerke said of trying to close out the win. “We just had to pull through. We had to tie them up. Moorhead is a really good team, and we had to close it out.”
While Bemidji and Moorhead boasted similar Section 8AA resumes in the regular season, the two programs differ historically.
Moorhead won its fifth section title in school history a year ago, usurping Roseau, the reigning champ, by a score of 6-1. Wednesday was Moorhead’s fifth consecutive 8AA title game appearance, winning championships in 2023 and 2025.
Bemidji, on the other hand, had not played for a section championship since 2010.
“There’s a reason Moorhead has gone to state in two of the last three years and could’ve gone in all three,” Johnson said. “They’re always in the section final because that’s a great hockey team and a great program. We should’ve known they weren’t going to go down easy. We just had to hang on.”
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Bemidji will find out its state tournament seeding later this week once each of the eight sections has crowned a victor. The Class AA state tournament begins on Thursday, Feb. 19, at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul.
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