Orono's lead was cut in half in the third period, down to one goal. Delano, its season on the line, was pressuring to tie. With 6 minutes, 40 seconds left in regulation, Delano's bench — including coach Gerrit van Bergen — fired itself up and got its sea-of-orange fans going, too.
Less than 90 seconds later, Orono scored a power-play goal to regain the two-goal lead. That was all the insurance the top-seeded Spartans needed in a 4-1 victory over third seed Delano in the Class 1A, Section 2 boys hockey title game Friday at the St. Louis Park Recreation Center.
"It was a backbreaker there," Orono coach Sean Fish said. "It's one of those, if you don't get it, now all of a sudden that last two minutes is even tougher on you."
Junior Brody Finnegan gave Orono (23-5-0) a 1-0 lead late in the first period on a blue-line shot off the faceoff with his fifth goal of the season, and fourth in his past five games.
"It was unreal," Finnegan said. "I didn't even know it went in.
"One of my buddies, Avery [Anderson], was pointing at the student section. I just ran over there."
Anderson was the one who later jammed home a rebound at the goalmouth with about five minutes left in regulation for that 3-1 lead. He added an empty-netter in the final minute.
The victory sends Orono back to state for the first time since 2018, when it won the Class 1A state championship.
Delano (15-13-0) fell just short of a section title for the second consecutive season. Van Bergen said his team came out in the third period with a lot of fire.
"Nonetheless, I felt like that [power-play goal] took a little bit of the wind out of our sails," he said.
