Staring up at the scoreboard with 14 seconds left in the game, Minnetonka goalie Abby Manlove saw her team up 2-1. There was a faceoff in her zone, and Eden Prairie needed to get something off.

The Eagles fired a shot at Manlove. She blocked it. It was one of six shots she stopped in the crucial third period -- and one of 29 the senior stopped Friday night against the home-ice Eagles.

Then the clock dipped to nil and Manlove jumped up, arms in the air, while the Skippers surrounded her for a team celebration. They beat the Eagles for the Mid-Winter Meltdown tournament championship game and celebrated their first Lake Conference win this year.

“That was just super lucky,” Manlove said about her final block.

Manlove, tallying her ninth win of the season, bested another good goalie in Eden Prairie’s Alexa Dobchuk. The Eagles’ goalie stopped 27 shots as Eden Prairie (10-6-1, 1-1-0) dropped its first conference game.

“She’s an amazing goalie,” Manlove said of Dobchuk. “I’ve known her for years. I battled and she battled.”

Skippers coach Eric Johnson tipped his cap to Manlove for outlasting Dobchuk. But Johnson said Manlove is a major impact player for his team, even going as far to say she’s the “hardest working” player he’s seen in 10 years.

From her improved play to her pregame rituals, Johnson called Manlove laser-focused and “ready to play.”

“She’s been the most consistent in both games and practices,” Johnson said, crediting her, in part, to the Skippers’ (9-3-3, 1-0-0) strong start to the season filled with close, low-scoring games.

Friday’s win is Manlove’s ninth of the season and with a .954 save percentage and a 0.98 goals against average, she statistically one of the better goalies in the Class 2A. Her pregame ritual is so effective, Johnson said, that he’s encouraged other players to emulate it.

“She shows up early, listens to her music, juggles tennis balls or racketballs off the wall… she could stare a hole into the wall -- she’s that focused,” Johnson said.

Asked about her style of play, Manlove remained humble and focused on how she can help Minnetonka, which is ranked No. 7 in the Class 2A coaches’ poll.

“I just try to play it one shot at a time. I just want to give my team a chance to win,” she said.

Minnetonka junior forward Kate Hoelscher scored both goals, the first, a redirect from sophomore blue-liner Lisa Laroche, with 1:18 left in the second period, and the second, the eventual game-winner, with 2:54 left in regulation.

Between her two goals, however, the No. 12-2A Eagles’ Grace Kuipers answered with her own goal at 12:07 in the third to tie the game at one. Kuipers was helped by Gigi Jacobson and Ava Wagner.

But Manlove stood tall, despite numerous attacks from an aggressive Eden Prairie offense. After the game, Manlove humbly said she only cared about her team.

“I just want to give them a chance,” she said.

Minnetonka goalie Abby Manlove stopped 29 shots and Kate Hoelscher scored both of the Skippers' goals to beat Eden Prairie 2-1 Friday night in the Mid-Winter Meltdown championship game at the Eden Prairie Community Center.

With 1:18 left in the second period, and both goalies facing their own onslaught of attacks, Minnetonka’s Hoelscher broke the scoreless game by redirecting a shot from sophomore blue-liner Lisa Laroche. Hoelscher added another, the eventual game-winner, with 2:54 left in regulation.

The Skippers (9-3-3, 1-0-0), who are ranked No. 7 in the Class 2A coaches’ poll, came to the tournament finale by beating Roseau 1-0 a night earlier.

For Eden Prairie (10-6-1, 1-1-0), Grace Kuipers answered with their own goal at 12:07 in the third. Kuipers was helped by Gigi Jacobson and Ava Wagner. Senior goalie Alexa Dobchuk stopped 27 shots for the No. 12-2A Eagles.

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