Katie Felton might be short on words, but the shy South St. Paul senior goaltender made a roaring statement Friday in the Class 1A girls’ hockey semifinals.

She stopped all 26 shots Breck fired at her — half of those coming in the final period — to seal a tense 1-0 victory for the third-seeded Packers and avenge last year’s 5-1 state semifinal loss.

After Ali Chulla’s power-play goal with 6 minutes, 44 seconds remaining in the game broke a scoreless tie, Felton fended off a flurry of attempts by the second-seeded Mustangs down the stretch. That included a pair of sliding saves in the waning seconds and watching a puck ring off the right post with about 4:20 to play.

“I like that hearing that sound,” Felton said with a bashful smile.

What sounded best was the hooting and hollering the Packers (25-5) emitted while celebrating in a huge pile near Felton’s crease once the clock hit zero.

“She was absolutely incredible,” coach Dave Palmquist said of Felton, who posted a 1.65 goals-against average heading into the state tournament. “I felt like this group of kids deserved that fate [Friday]. We played too well to not get a victory, and Katie was instrumental.”

While she secured South St. Paul’s fifth return trip to a championship game since being runner-up to Apple Valley in the inaugural tournament in 1995, it was Chulla’s heads-up goal that made the difference on the scoreboard.

Her initial shot on net bounced into a sea of skates in front of the Breck crease. Nobody saw the puck but Chulla, who popped it into the far side for her 10th goal of the season. She called it “definitely the No. 1 goal I have ever scored.”

From there, it was Felton’s time to shine, and it did not go unnoticed.

“This isn’t supposed to be easy,” Palmquist said. “This is work.”

Ali Chulla, South St. Paul
The senior defenseman scored the game’s lone goal to lift the Packers into their sixth state championship in school history.

Q Where does that goal rank in your repertoire?
A Definitely the No. 1 goal I have ever scored. To be able to advance our team to the finals, someplace none of my teammates have been, I was so happy. All of the girls all remember being in the stands [in the past], now we get to play in that game. My first instinct was just to shoot, and I just did that. When it bounced in, I just threw my hands in the air.

Q What’s the mood like on the ice and on the bench as a 0-0 hockey game drags on?
A I wouldn’t say it ever got frustrating. We just wanted to play as one, stay positive. Some teams get negative when there’s a tie or it’s close. And it’s just not fun to play like that. I think staying positive helped us win. 

Q How has your team gotten to this point?
A Our team is a team. There isn’t like a three stars or one star or anything like that after a game. We’re just a team. We play as one. And I think that’s what makes this different from other years.