Bay Area senior defenseman Morgan Zirbel said she and her team knew the Schwan Cup would be good competition, “because Minnesota has good hockey.”

Whatever competition level they faced this week, it didn’t stop Bay Area (10-0-1) from winning the Schwan Cup Bronze Division with a 2-1 championship victory over Mahtomedi (7-8-1) Wednesday afternoon at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis.

Zirbel scored the game-winning goal early in the third period. She said she saw an opportunity to get around the defenders, and her coach Brandon Erkkila said they always give her a green light when she has an opportunity to go toward the net.

“So I drove around them and kind of cut to the middle for a shot, just to try to make an opportunity whether it was a goal or even a rebound,” Zirbel said. “I was just trying to get a shot on net for a play, and it went in.”

Knotted at a goal apiece through two periods, the Zephyrs held a 17-6 shot advantage. But the Ice Bears responded with an 11-2 edge in the third, including that game-winner just 3:46 into the period. They just needed to shake their nervous energy in the final 17 minutes, settle down and re-focus, Erkkila said.

“We came to this tournament to play Minnesota teams and to play really good hockey, and that’s what we got,” Erkkila said.

It was the Zephyrs that took control early, taking a 1-0 lead about three minutes into the game. Freshman defender Emma Dornseif scored her first of the season with a long shot from the top of the offensive zone.

But just a couple minutes later, the Ice Bears tied it up with a goal from sophomore forward Autumn Klemencic. The initial shot trickled behind the goaltender and into the net.

The Zephyrs had an opportunity to take the lead with a power play just 22 seconds into the third period, but they failed to register a shot on goal during the 5-on-4 advantage.

Sometimes when you don’t score on a power play at that time, it can really pull the momentum away from a team, Mahtomedi coach Bill Mauricio said.

They tried to forced passes in a shooting lane rather than shoot, Mauricio said.

“We didn’t take advantage of the power play,” he said. “They’re a good hard, physical team, but we gave them two rushes.”

The Ice Bears haven’t been used to trailing or even being tied with an opponent much this year. They entered the game outscoring opponents 50-3. The Zephyrs goal early in the first period was the first the Ice Bears surrendered in the Schwan Cup this week.

Erkkila and his team knew it’d be a different type of game than what they’ve been used to so far in their undefeated season.

“Oh yeah, that’s why we came here,” Erkkila said. “We have a big group of seniors, we knew we had a talented team. We want to be challenged in the regular season.”

The Zephyrs needed a pair of 2-1 victories in the tournament just to get to the championship game. Their quarterfinal victory over Totino-Grace came in overtime. The semifinal win over International Falls came after a shootout game-winner from Kennedy Bergren.

In goal, Johanna Ficcadenti made 15 saves for the Zephyrs, while Ana Holzbach made 18 saves for the Ice Bears. Holzbach came into the game with six shutouts this season.

It took a third period goal to decide this championship game between Mahtomedi (7-8-1) and Bay Area.

Bay Area (10-0-1) senior defender Morgan Zirbel drove into the zone and slid the puck through the goaltender’s legs early in the third for the game-winning goal as her team beat the Zephyrs 2-1 Wednesday afternoon in the championship game of the Schwan Cup Bronze Division at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis.

It was the Zephyrs that took control early, taking a 1-0 lead about three minutes into the game. Freshman defender Emma Dornseif scored her first of the season with a long shot from the top of the offensive zone.

But just a couple minutes later, the Ice Bears tied it up with a goal from sophomore forward Autumn Klemencic. The initial shot trickled behind the goaltender and into the net.

The teams remained knotted at 1-1 after two periods. The Zephyrs peppered the goal with four times as many shots as their opponent, a 17-6 shot advantage after the second.

The Zephyrs needed a pair of 2-1 victories in the tournament just to get to the championship game. Their quarterfinal victory over Totino-Grace came in overtime. The semifinal win over International Falls came after a shootout game-winner from Kennedy Bergren.

The Ice Bears haven’t been used to trailing or even being tied with an opponent much this year. They entered the game outscoring their opponents 50-3. The Zephyrs goal in the first period was the first one the Ice Bears surrendered in the Schwan Cup this week.

In goal, Johanna Ficadenti made 15 saves for the Zephyrs, while Ana Holzbach made 18 saves for the Ice Bears. Holzback came into the game with six shutouts on the season.