Pellicci Ace Hardware Powers Past Hepp’s Salt, Advances to Celly League Championship

EDINA, Minn. — The Celly League playoffs opened Thursday night at Braemar Arena, where regular season champion Pellicci Ace Hardware survived an early challenge from Hepp’s Salt before taking control in a 6-3 semifinal victory.

Ace ran the table during the regular season with a perfect 6-0 record and entered the playoffs seeking its third Celly League championship in the four year history of the league. As is often the case in the Celly League, however, nothing came easily.

Jackson Kinsler opened the scoring for Ace with 18:45 remaining in the first half. Alexa Van Straaten collected the assist on Kinsler’s second goal of the season.

Hepp’s Salt, which finished fourth during the regular season with a 1-4-1 record, responded with two straight goals.

Ayla Puppe tied the game with 16:50 remaining, finishing a setup from Sam Mathe for her first goal of the season. Ella Pasqua then put Hepp’s in front at 8:47, converting a feed from Emme Nelson to give the fourth seed a 2-1 lead.

The advantage held until the closing minutes of the half. With 2:22 remaining, Grace Delmonico pulled Ace even. Kinsler and Ellie Zakrajscheck helped create the scoring opportunity, and Delmonico finished for her second goal of the season to send the teams into the break tied at two.

That goal ignited the game’s decisive momentum swing and Ace took its first lead since the opening minutes just 3:35 into the second half. Addy Cowan and Van Straaten combined to set up Sydney Leonard, who finished from near the net for her sixth goal of the season with 26:25 showing on the clock.

Van Straaten expanded the lead at 21:15. Cate McCoy and Leonard worked the puck into scoring position before Van Straaten delivered what proved to be the game winning goal, extending the Ace advantage to 4-2.

Just 1:36 later, McCoy made it three Ace goals in a span of 6:46. Dylan Berman and Kinsler earned the assists as McCoy scored her sixth of the season with 19:39 remaining.

The four goal outburst, beginning with Delmonico’s late first half equalizer, transformed a 2-1 deficit into a commanding 5-2 Ace lead.

Hepp’s did not go quietly and Nora Stepan finished a setup from Taryn Richter and Bailey Gray with 16:01 remaining, pulling Hepp’s within two and starting a determined second half push. Hepp’s generated 19 shots during the half and 30 for the game, but Ace goaltender Janie McGawn held firm after taking over for Sedona Blair at the break.

Delmonico closed the scoring with 2:05 remaining, converting a pass from Josie Linn for her second goal of the game and third of the season on an empty net tally.

Ace finished with a 35-30 advantage in shots. Blair stopped nine of 11 shots during the first half, while McGawn turned aside 18 of 19 in the second to earn the victory. Hepp’s goaltender Lauren Larson made 29 saves.

Kinsler led Ace with a goal and two assists, while Delmonico scored twice. Leonard and Van Straaten each recorded a goal and an assist as Ace received scoring from five different players.

The victory moved Pellicci Ace Hardware one win away from its third Celly League championship. Ace will face the winner of the Lake Cowboy and Tradition Mortgage Black semifinal in the championship game Tuesday, July 28, at 6:45 p.m. at Braemar Arena.

Hepp’s Salt will meet the semifinal loser in the third place game Thursday, July 30, at 7 p.m.