On the Minnetonka Super Fans page in the official 2010-11 girls' hockey yearbook, someone took out a paid square in homage to senior goaltender Julie Friend.

Celebrating 4 years of denying their goals! Congratulations #1!

While Friend has been squashing the goals of opponents, she backstopped the Skippers to one of their own.

Friend's 4-0 shutout over Benilde-St. Margaret's last Friday in the Class 2A, Section 6 championship lifted Minnetonka (26-1-1) to its first state tournament berth.

The Skippers, ranked No. 1 all season in Class 2A, received the top seed. They open state play at 6 p.m. Thursday against Elk River/Zimmerman (20-8) at Xcel Energy Center.

After praising the Red Knights for a solid run through the playoffs, and chalking up his team's goals to some breaks, bounces and turnovers, Minnetonka coach Eric Johnson finally allowed himself to enjoy the moment for the Skippers.

"We're proud of our girls," he said, a smile still on his face and one eye on the team celebrating with the gathered student section. "They worked their butts off, every single one of them. A complete team effort. Julie Friend is solid in net, and I think that gave us confidence as the game went on."

Friend's numbers are astounding. She posted a .955 saves percentage during the regular season, earning nine shutouts. The St. Cloud State recruit then allowed just one goal in the section tournament, an inconsequential power-play goal to Buffalo in the semifinals after Minnetonka had taken a 6-0 lead.

In the championship game, the teams played an even first period before the Skippers scored three times in the second period.

With credentials like Friend's, the game was all but over at that point. Johnson said he never relaxed, but ...

"If we stayed with our game plan, we figured we would be in pretty good shape," he said.

Friend breathed in relief once Minnetonka broke through on Carolyn Draayer's goal 2 minutes, 44 seconds into the second period.

"I'm always looking for my teammates to get that first goal of the game," Friend said. "Then when the second, third and fourth ones went in it was great. Being the first team to do this is huge for our program."

Their work is far from over, but it is a monumental achievement.

Friend bent over at the knees and shook her head in disbelief after receiving her section championship medal.

"Four years and we finally get here," she said. "We did it. This is the best moment of my life, easily."

They have reached this point playing all season with a target on their backs, and will do so one last time beginning Thursday.

Johnson is not concerned.

"This is a pretty big point of getting over a hump for us," he said. "I don't think we'll have a hard time ... getting focused. We expect to play our best hockey [this] week."