South St. Paul girls hockey advances to state tourney with 4-1 win over Simley

South St. Paul scored all four of their goals in the third period to hand Simley a 4-1 loss in the Section 4A championship game Thursday night.

The Packers trailed 1-0 after two periods but junior forward Alida Ahern gave South St. Paul a 2-1 lead with a power play goal with just over five minutes remaining in regulation. Senior captain Sarah Wincentsen fed Paige Johnson to push the Packers lead to 3-1 with 3:30 remaining in the game. Alyiah Danielson added an empty-net goal to finish the scoring.

South St. Paul reaches the MSHSL Girls’ State Hockey Tournament for the 17th time – they’ve won four state championships.