East Grand Forks, tucked up in Minnesota’s northwest corner, is about a five-hour drive from the Twin Cities. But an outsider at Saturday’s Class 1A boys hockey championship game might have thought it was just down the road.

EAST GRAND FORKS, M.N. (Valley News Live) - A championship celebration took place for the East Grand Forks High School hockey team on Sunday, March 9.

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.

Jace Van Eps was able to get a goal past the Crudader’s goalie, Keaton LeGrande with an assist from Jace Panzer to secure the victory for East Grand Forks. It was the first championship for the Green Wave since they went back to back in 2014 and 2015.

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.

As they closed in on the title with a two-goal lead on Hermantown in the third period of the championship game, they gave up two extra-attacker goals in the final 33 seconds. But in overtime, Tanner Tweten buried a feed from the corner to win it.

Outsiders may have thought a state title game berth was out of reach for East Grand Forks. At the end of the regular season, the Green Wave had a losing record. They were a talented team, but their schedule was one of the state’s toughest.

Cole Swanson had a goal and two assists to lead the scoring for Hibbing/Chisholm (20-10), which was making its first state tournament appearance since 2011. East Grand Forks is back in the title game for the first time since 2015, when it successfully defended its Class A title.

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.

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