ST. PAUL - Jace Panzer connected on his second swipe at the puck, depositing it into a mostly open net and giving No. 4 seed East Grand Forks a two-goal lead on its way to a 3-0 victory over No. 5 seed Northern Lakes on Wednesday in a state Class 1A quarterfinal at the Xcel Energy Center.

With both teams playing suffocating defense and getting stellar goaltending, Panzer’s power-play goal 3:49 into the third period seemed likely to hold up.

Sure enough, it did. East Grand Forks, ranked No. 13 in Class 1A, got an empty-net goal from Tucker Lovejoy with 1:31 left — after a series of close calls at the open net — to clinch the win against the Lightning, led by the winningest coach in state history in Mike Randolph.

East Grand Forks (14-13-2) dominated the special teams. The Green Wave went 2-for-3 on the power play while Northern Lakes was 0-for-4. 

East Grand Forks’ Cooper Hills was called for a boarding penalty 5:08 into the third period, and the ensuing penalty kill was the best hockey of the night for the Green Wave, according to coach Tyler Palmiscino.

Randolph, in his first season coaching No. 10-1A Northern Lakes (19-9-1), surpassed former Rochester Mayo coach Lorne Grosso for the all-time career wins record early in the season. He was coaching in the state tournament for the 19th time and first since 2019.

East Grand Forks’ Noah Schindele made 24 saves for the shutout, the second of the playoffs and fourth of the season for the sophomore goaltender.  Northern Lakes goaltender Sam Suja made 23 saves.

East Grand Forks killed a 5-minute man advantage for Northern Lakes in the third period, snuffing out the Lightning's best chance at a comeback attempt.

19: State tournament trips for Northern Lakes coach Mike Randolph, 18 of them with Duluth East. 

0: Power-play goals for Northern Lakes in 9 minutes with the man advantage. 

18: Goals this season, the most for East Grand Forks, for junior forward Tucker Lovejoy. He scored into an empty net on Wednesday.