“I thought the key tonight was the kids were really smart with how we were trying to match lines with the (defense) trying to match certain pairings,” said Red Wing head coach Scott Haley. “Being smart hockey players and trying to get the puck out at key times, I thought the kids did a phenomenal job of that. Ashley (Corcoran) made some big saves, especially making the first save and making an excellent second save. The defense was key tonight…and the forwards, too, played some good team defense, especially in the third.”

Joie Phelps put United up 1-0 12 minutes, 40 seconds into the game on a wraparound that Corcoran never saw. But Corcoran continued to display talent that has college coaches waiting in the hallway, stopping 27 shots in the win, several of which could have put Red Wing in a deeper hole.

“I thought I was pretty solid. I thought the entire team played pretty well and that was nice having good support in front of me, too,” Corcoran said.

It was just the second goal Corcoran had given up this season, and it would hold up for more than six minutes. But Reagan Haley would find a way to get even, picking up a puck that Kelsey Corcoran had left at center ice, and taking it into the slot before beating the glove of St. Paul’s Catherine Johnson.

Haley would double-down at 1:45 of the third period on a breakaway, forcing Johnson left before dragging the puck back to what looked like would be a backhand go-ahead goal. Instead, Haley came back to her forehand and, while gliding toward the corner, flipped in what would be the game-winning goal.

“(Johnson) is a really good goalie, and we talked after the second period that we have to move her and get pucks to the net and crash the net,” Reagan said.

Asked why she held on to the forehand, Reagan said it’s a move that’s worked on one of the best goalies she’s faced: her teammate.

“That’s my move I always do on Ashley, the ‘Datsyuk,’” Haley said, referring to Detroit Red Wing Pavel Datsyuk.

It’s a move that doesn’t work in practice. Not any more.

“In practice, we do shootouts every day, and me and her like to mess around and stuff,” Ashley said. “She likes to score and I like to stop her. It’s fun.”

Also having a good time was Taylor Heise, who put the game away with a wrist shot from the slot that beat Johnson stick side. Heise, who had five assists coming into the game, has had several chances to notch her first goal of the season. And she had a couple of great chances on Tuesday before she finally broke through. It was a great way to get the monkey off her back, and a great reminder to Scott Haley that the young phenom is just that: young.

“She’s so good and talented that I keep telling (assistant coach) Dan (Anderson) to remind me that she’s in ninth grade,” coach Haley said. “Sometimes she looks like a ninth grader and I expect her to look like Reagan or Nicole (Schammel) or Emily (Stegora) from last year. But you have to remind yourself that she’s only in ninth grade. And for a ninth-grader, she’s a tremendous player.”

As good as Tuesday was, with some clutch offense and a stifling defense, Red Wing will need even better performances over the next seven days. On Thursday, the Wingers will head to Mahtomedi, followed by a visit from top-ranked Blake on Nov. 25.

“Of the three games that we have that we’re looking at here, this was the one I was most excited about,” coach Haley said. “Blake, we’ll be a total underdog, and Mahtomedi (who knows)? This one was really a coin flip. And we really learned a lot about ourselves tonight.”