Four years ago Chaska had 22 players come out for the team, barely enough to field varsity and junior varsity squads. The Hawks traveled the state playing similar numbers-challenged programs, planting their flag in remote locales such as Two Harbors, Kasson and Moose Lake.

Moose Lake? Yeah, Chaska senior defenseman Mike Koster remembers that road trip to the northern reaches of the state.

“My first game was up against Moose Lake,” Koster said about his freshman season. “I was like, ‘Where’s that?’ ”

Chaska went 13-10-1 in the 2015-16 regular season and was summarily bounced from the section playoffs in the first round by Eden Prairie.

The Hawks have come a long, long way from those bus trips to the remote Minnesota northwoods. On Saturday it was Koster’s late third-period goal that clinched a 4-3 triumph over previously unbeaten Edina, the state’s premiere blueblood program.

“It’s crazy how much we have grown as a team,” Koster said. “Today we weren’t relying on one player to do it, we weren’t relying on Blaine Warnert to do it, we weren’t relying on Rhett Pitlick to do it, we bought into it as a team, together.

“I think that is the the biggest thing, we have come together as a group, and it is really special right now.”

Koster wasn’t just talking about the Hawks' rapid rise prominence in the last half-decade. Chaska, which features four players committed to Division I college programs, suffered puzzling early season losses to Class 1A squads Eveleth-Gilbert and Sartell-St. Stephen.

The Hawks’ turnaround started on Thursday with a 6-3 win over Class 2A, Section 2 rival Eden Prairie, currently ranked No. 6 in Class 2A in the latest state coaches’ poll. Chaska (7-5-0) continued its stellar play in the Hockey for Life Classic at the Dakotah! Ice Center in Prior Lake with an 8-0 drubbing of Prior Lake on Friday.

The pièce de résistance came in Saturday’s victory over the No. 2-ranked Hornets (9-1-1). A triumph that required a comeback from a 3-0 first period deficit.

“We were looking at it as a moral victory after the second period because our guys were just continuing to work hard,” Chaska coach Dave Snuggerud said about the Hawks chipping away at Edina’s lead and entering the third period down 3-2. “That’s one thing they had to learn how to do, be competitive shift after shift, period after period, game after game. We’re trying to build on that.

“But to do it against a great Edina team like that, I think our kids are really happy right now.”

Happy? The Hawks cranked the tunes, singing to some of them, and posed for a team photo in their locker room after the game. This wasn’t just another victory. The win gave Chaska the unofficial title as tournament champs, considering they were the only team among the field of eight to go unbeaten.

“It is just really fun and special for our group,” said Pitlick, a junior who scored twice and set up Koster’s winning goal.

Chaska beat Eden Prairie last year in the Class 2A, Section 2 quarterfinals before falling to eventual state champion Minnetonka in the section semifinals. A decade ago, Chaska and Edina were both in Class 2A, Section 6. Edina beat Chaska 4-1 in the 2007 Section 6 playoffs in what might have been the most recent matchup between the programs. Chaska lost to Edina a handful of other times in the playoffs dating back to 2000.

“They handle the puck well, they possess the puck well, they skate well,” Edina coach Curt Giles said. “I like the way their entire team plays, the way they play off one another.”

Koster, who also had three assists, didn’t know how to rank the victory in terms of the program’s history.

“You know, Edina, I don’t look at the rankings much, but they were undefeated, they had the one tie,” he said. “It was pretty special for our group to beat them.”