Trash Panda Upsets Empowers Performance to Earn Trip to Dangle Cup Final

Braemar Arena – August 12, 2025 — The Dangle League playoffs continued to deliver surprises as No. 3 seed Trash Panda knocked off second-seeded Empowers Performance 3-1 in a tightly contested semifinal, becoming the second lower seed of the night to advance to the Dangle Cup final.

Empowers came in riding a four-game winning streak and the swagger of being the only team to beat top-seeded Hepp’s Salt in the regular season. Trash Panda, on the other hand, had stumbled through their last four games at 1-3 but found their postseason form when it mattered most.

The game began with Empowers struck first. Just over six minutes in, Riley Iverson (Academy of Holy Angels) took a feed from Harper Wieneke (Maple Grove), cut into the slot, and ripped a bar-down laser past Grace Kemp (Cretin-Derham Hall) for a 1-0 lead.

True to playoff form, the rest of the first half was a goaltending showcase, with Empowers’ Claire Hills (Andover) and Kemp trading key stops to keep the score tight.  Empowers Vivienne Anderson (Orono) turned aside all 9 first half shots she faced.  

Trash Panda broke through early in the second half when Callie Arthur (Blake) crashed the net off a faceoff win and buried a pass from Julia Ostapeic (Wayzata) at 23:1 to even the game. That goal swung momentum hard in Trash Panda’s favor. Madeline Wolter (Centennial/Spring Lake Park) gave them their first lead at 10:54, finishing a feed from Sydney Burnevik (Champlin Park/Coon Rapids) and Kathryn Zakrajsheck (BSM) sealed the victory with an empty-netter from Alex Christian (Orono) and Taylor Schreifels (Andover) with just 1:03 remaining.

Kemp was outstanding in the Trash Panda net, turning aside 18 of 19 shots in the complete-game effort. Hills finished with 7 saves on 9 shots for Empowers, who saw their postseason run cut short despite their late-season surge.

Trash Panda now advances to the Dangle Cup final to face the winner of Hepp’s Salt and Performance Office Papers.