Maple Grove senior Abby Larson was not expecting to see a scoring chance in the closing seconds of overtime in the Crimson’s matchup with Hill-Murray at Aldrich Arena on Saturday.

But Larson’s quick feet created one as the forward chased down a puck that was sliding slowly toward Pioneers goalie Leah Patrick after being deflected on a shot. 

“I didn’t think I was going to have a chance, but I saw that their goalie had to make a play on it,” Larson said. 

Patrick misplayed the puck and Larson buried a shot into the open net with 4 seconds remaining in overtime to give Maple Grove a 3-2 victory over Hill-Murray in a battle of top-10 ranked Class 2A teams.

“I saw her (Patrick) go out and play the puck and was surprised that she didn’t shoot it towards the boards,” Crimson sophomore goalie Coco Francis said. “She kind of moved it toward the middle, which is dangerous.”

The dangerous play resulted in the Larson’s 10th goal of the season and gave Maple Grove (19-1-1), ranked No. 2 in the coaches poll, the kind of bounce-back victory it needed after losing to Minnetonka 3-1 on Jan. 15.

“I was just watching and saying, ‘(Patrick) is going to play that puck and we might have a chance,” Crimson coach Rob Potter said. “I knew if she played it, we might have a chance. It wasn’t our best game, but every now and then you need a bounce.”

Maple Grove’s fortune was Hill-Murray’s misery. The loss ended a six-game winning streak by the No. 4-2A Pioneers (14-5) and marked the fifth time this season they were defeated by one goal.

Hill-Murray controlled the third period and overtime, outshooting Maple Grove 18-9, and finished the game with a 36-25 edge in shots. The Pioneers, however, could not find the net thanks to Francis, who stayed steady despite being under fire all afternoon.

“I like it though,” she said. “There have been a lot of games that I haven’t seen a lot, so this was pretty fun.”

Hill-Murray’s aggressive forecheck and cycling created fits for the Crimson, but Francis stopped the Pioneers time and time again.

She never had to make a spectacular save, but her positioning and demeanor were nearly perfect.

“She is a great goalie and was unbelievable today,” Larson said. “We don’t win this game if she doesn’t play the way she did.”

They also don’t win if Larson doesn’t hustle after that puck in overtime.

“It really does feel good to score a goal like this in overtime against a team like that,” she said.

Abby Larson scored with 4 seconds remaining in overtime to give Maple Grove a 3-2 win over Hill-Murray in matchup at Aldrich Arena on Saturday between two top-10 ranked teams in Class 2A.

Lauren Kaufman and Katie Denecke also scored for the Crimson (19-1-1), ranked No. 2 in the Class 2A coaches poll.

The No. 4-2A Pioneers (14-5-0) outshot Maple Grove 36-25, but Crimson sophomore goalie Coco Francis stopped 34 shots, which included 18 in the third period and overtime.

Abigail Boreen and Laura Anderson each scored a goal for Hill-Murray.

Maple Grove hosts North Metro on Jan. 20, while Hill-Murray welcomes Hastings on Jan. 20

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