Alexandria senior forward Brycen Berg scored twice, and the Cardinals beat Minneapolis 4-1 on Wednesday in a Class 1A quarterfinal of the boys' hockey state tournament at Xcel Energy Center.

Berg gave fifth-seeded Alexandria an early 1-0 lead, but Minneapolis controlled play the rest of the first period, and Zander Zoia tied the score late in the period.

Minneapolis, the fourth seed, outshot Alexandria 13-2 in the first period.

"Obviously the first period was not the greatest,”  Alexandria coach Josh Meyers said. “But we bounced back in the second and took care of the puck a lot better.”

Berg scored the go-ahead goal for a 2-1 lead late in the second period when he deflected Henry Ramstorf’s point shot.

About a minute after a huge save with the puck bouncing near the goal line by Alexandria goaltender Teagan Pfeffer in the third period, Gavin Olson scored with 11:03 to play to make it 3-1.

“Once they scored, I was like, ‘We’re going to win this game,’” Pfeffer said.

The Cardinals (20-6-2) added an empty-net goal.

“They put it in the net when they had their chances, and we got behind,” Minneapolis coach Joe Dziedzic said. “I think we’re a better team when we’re obviously ahead.”

The fan support for Minneapolis (21-7-1) was evident in St. Paul, with perhaps the largest student section ever for a Class 1A state tournament game. Minneapolis came in with a 15-2-1 record when scoring first, which it failed to do Wednesday in the first state tournament appearance by a city public school since Minneapolis Edison made the tournament in 1994.