An 11-10 overtime loss at Chanhassen swung the Metro West title to Chanhassen last year. One of the two has won the conference every year since 2016.

“Definitely an emotional game. We really wanted that,” Benilde-St. Margaret’s goalie Justin Dalum said, “and I think we answered.”

Carter Van Holland notched his second straight five-goal game to lead Chanhassen, which checked in at No. 2 in the latest state coaches poll behind Benilde-St. Margaret’s.

His score gave the Storm an early 1-0 lead. The junior is up to a team high 36 goals while suiting up in just 10 of 12 games.

“He’s the kind of guy who wants to put the team on his shoulders like he did tonight,” Chanhassen coach Jon Junker said. “He’s had an all-American season and it shows. No matter how much you game plan for him and you put your best D on him, he’s still going to make things happen.”

The Red Knights were able to muzzle Van Holland for the rest of the first half until his efforts nearly led a grand comeback in the closing minutes

Benilde-St. Margaret’s scored six straight goals to go to the halftime break up 6-1. Gus Bell had both of his goals and an assist in the frame.

“We started strong offensively and we kind of slowed down as the game went on but the offense responded well (late),” Benilde-St. Margaret’s Carsen Brandt said.

The Red Knights’ points leader, Brandt, joined Bell in leading his side with two goals and an assist.

Brandt added that goalie Justin Dalum “stood on his head for us,” to limit the damage against a high-powered offense that scored double-digit goals in all 10 wins.

Dalum tipped his cap back to Brandt, who has hit the ground running since returning from an ankle injury suffered on May 6. Brandt dished three assists in his return in a May 21 win at Centennial.

“With Carsen Brandt being back, it brings a whole other amount of energy into the offense,” Dalum said. “Gets things going.”

Chanhassen scored immediately in the second half and pulled as close as three in the fourth quarter. The rally fell short as Benilde-St. Margaret’s continues its home unbeaten streak of five years.

Chanhassen will look to shrug off the loss with a game for second place in the conference Thursday at Bloomington Jefferson before preparing for a tough Section 2 tournament, which features No. 4 Shakopee, No. 5 Buffalo and No. 10 Minnetonka. Benilde-St. Margaret's is the lone ranked team in Section 5, where it projects to be the top seed when playoffs begin next week.

"I think we hung with them and we could’ve and should’ve played better tonight," Junker said. "Some bounces didn’t go our way, but we’ll recover from that. This doesn’t change our goals or plans for the season."