East Grand Forks forward Dixon Bowen, left, reacts after the game-winning shot by forward Tanner Tweten gets past Hermantown goalie Luke Olson, right, during overtime of the boys’ Class A state hockey tournament championship game in St. Paul, Minn., Saturday, March 7, 2015. East Grand Forks won 5-4 in overtime. (Ann Heisenfelt / Associated Press)

East Grand Forks High School winning the Class A Boys Hockey State Championship over the weekend is a true Cinderella story.

A championship celebration took place for the East Grand Forks High School hockey team on Sunday, March 9. “It’s so surreal. It’s all you want to do when you were a kid watching the other boys win titles,

Van Eps scored from a sharp angle 1:46 into overtime, and East Grand Forks beat St. Cloud Cathedral 2-1 in the Class A boys hockey final at Xcel Energy Center. Noah Schindele made 37 saves and Cooper Hills also scored for the Green Wave, state champions for the first time since back-to-back titles in 2014 and 2015.

Senior Jace Van Eps was the overtime hero, scoring on a sharp-angle shot along the goal line after capitalizing on a rebound chance.

East Grand Forks appeared to be headed for a 1-0 win in this title game until Cathedral freshman Bo Schmidt tied it when his shot deflected off of goaltender Noah Schindele's glove and into the net. The goal came with the Crusaders on a power play.

The 2024-25 boys hockey season concludes Saturday with the Class 2A and 1A state championships at Xcel Energy Center. On Friday, St. Cloud Cathedral and East Grand Forks won their semifinal games to advance to the 1A final,

The defending state champs, St. Cloud Cathedral was the No. 2 seed in the bracket but has outscored its opponents, 7-1, in two wins at the state tournament. East Grand Forks is the No. 4 seed, but the Green Wave upset the top seed, Hibbing/Chisholm/VCA, in Friday's semifinal action.

Friday afternoon the top-seeded Hibbing/Chisholm boys hockey team dropped the puck against East Grand Forks in the Class A state semifinals.