Minnetonka was on the run, pressing, gambling, throwing everything it could muster on the attack.

There was just more than a minute left, and the Skippers needed a goal – two of them actually – if they were going to have any chance of upending No. 1-ranked and unbeaten Benilde-St. Margaret’s.

This explains how Christian Horn, an agile and slippery attackman, could find himself going one-on-one with Andy Homan, the Skippers’ 6-foot-plus giant of a goaltender.

“He is definitely a big goalie, so that’s something you have to watch out for,” Horn said about the confrontation, which came a good 20-feet outside the crease. “I kind of knew he was there, but, honestly, I kind of got scared a little bit.

“He’s a big boy. I had to step around him and put it in.”

Horn’s goal into an empty net after he dipsy doodled around Homan came with 73 seconds left and capped the scoring in Benilde-St. Margaret’s 10-7 triumph over No. 3 Minnetonka on Saturday, May 14, at Minnetonka High School.

Homan was left sprawling on the turf as Horn and the Red Knights bounced in celebration. Benilde-St. Margaret’s had improved to 11-0, but the Skippers (9-2) had issued a most noteworthy statement in defeat.

“We really think they are beatable,” said Minnetonka senior Chase Fisher, who scored four goals.

Benilde-St. Margaret’s showed up with about 15 minutes left of warmup time remaining.

“That was my mistake,” Red Knights coach Colin Mulcahy said about the cutting-it-close arrival.

It would seem the Red Knights had plenty of time to get loose and limber in the on-and-off drizzle and mid-40s temperatures, as they raced to a 5-0 lead.

“If we didn’t let those five in at the beginning that game could have been a lot different,” said Fisher, who scored three of his goals as Minnetonka responded with 5-0 run to tie the score early in the third quarter.

The score was tied at 7 with 7:17 left in the fourth when Red Knights junior Will Hoesley took advantage of a turnover near the crease for a tap-in goal. Minnetonka had a chance to tie it less than a minute later, but Jack Denton couldn’t beat junior goaltender Thomas Gilligan from close range.

“Gilligan is unbelievable,” Fisher said. “That guy has crazy reflexes. That was an amazing save. I couldn’t even believe it. I jumped up in the air and screamed after I saw it.

“He’s definitely a game-changer, having a goaltender like that on your team.”

Simon Gondeck scored with 4:07 left. Three minutes later Horn completed his hat trick and, in essence, ended the game.

During a season in which every Red Knights’ opponent is fully charged for the upset opportunity, Minnetonka handed Benilde-St. Margaret’s its stiffest test since the Red Knights’ thrilling 10-9 triumph over Blake on May 3.

“They are tough,” Horn said about the Skippers. “They have a lot of really good players. When we went up 5-0 I think we kind of did take a step back and we kind of saw the firepower that they really have.”

The playoffs are just more than a week away. Minnetonka faces a big Lake Conference and Section 6 showdown with Eden Prairie on Tuesday, May 17. Saturday’s performance was a rare confidence-boosting loss for the Skippers, whose only other loss came against No. 2-ranked Blake.

“I don’t know if you can ever be happy with a loss,” Skippers coach Aaron Olivier said. “We spotted them five goals. We had had way too many drops.

“I felt like we competed with them. And I felt like we gave them a good game.”

1. Thomas Gilligan, Benilde-St. Margaret’s
Described as a “game-changing” player by Minnetonka scoring leader Chase Fisher, Gilligan made his usual handful of mind-blowing saves, the most noticeable of which was a point-blank stop on Minnetonka attackman Jack Denton with 6:30 left and the Red Knights clinging to an 8-7 lead.

2. Chase Fisher, Minnetonka
A senior attackman, Fisher scored four goals while working mostly against standout Benilde-St. Margaret’s defenseman Zach Silvestri. Fisher’s goals came from long-range shots that were perfectly placed in the corners of the goal.

3. Christian Horn, Benilde-St. Margaret’s
Horn scored three goals for the Red Knights, including the game-ender with 1:13 left that gave the Red Knights their 10-7 lead. Horn also scored twice in a span of 10 seconds in the first quarter as Benilde-St. Margaret’s raced to what would eventually be a 5-0 lead.

Junior attackman Christian Horn scored three goals and junior goaltender Thomas Gilligan turned in another standout performance as the No. 1-ranked Benilde-St. Margaret’s boys beat No. 3 Minnetonka 10-7 on Saturday, May 14, at Minnetonka High School.

Horn scored twice in the first quarter as the Red Knights (11-0) surged to a 5-0 lead by early in the second quarter.

Minnetonka senior attackman Chase Fisher scored two of his four goals in the second quarter and added a third goal just more than 2 minutes into the third quarter as the Skippers (9-2) tied the game at 5.

Fisher scored again with 7:25 left in the fourth quarter as Minnetonka tied the game at 7.

State goal-scoring leader Will Hoesley, Simon Gondeck and Horn scored the final three goals for the Red Knights, the defending MSHSL boys state champion.

Minnetonka won the state title in 2009.

Hoesley and Taylor Topousis each added two goals for the Red Knights.