Buegler’s goal with 38 seconds left in the game broke a 1-all tie and gave the No. 5-seeded Eagles a 2-1 win over the fourth-seeded Bulldogs in a Section 3A Boys Hockey Tournament quarterfinals game Thursday night at the Le Sueur Ice Arena.

O’Keefe scored at the 12:05 mark of the third on assists from Riley Kamm and Nate Tews to tie the game up at 1-1. A little more than four minutes later at 16:22 of the third, Buegler got a shot past Bulldogs keeper Connor Messer on an assist from Hunter Larson to put the Eagles in front again.

“Just put it in the back of the net was what was going through my head,” Buegler said. “I had a couple opportunities earlier in the game I couldn’t capitalize on, kind of similar. I just kind of new right then and there that was the best one I was gonna get all night. So I just had to put it in the back of the net. I seen the opportunity … couldn’t have been more open. Hunter had a great play on them, had a perfect shot for me, so gotta give him the credit for that.”

The Eagles will now take on No. 1-seeded Luverne at the Lund Arena in St. Peter in a 7 p.m. Saturday semifinals game.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau New Ulm's Carsten Haala (22) looks to his coaches on the bench during the second period of a Section 3A boys hockey playoff game against Minnesota River on Thursday. Haala scored the first goal of the game.

After Larson’s big goal, he made sure to skate down to the other side of the ice and greet his goalie Blaine Arneson, who had a strong night in net despite allowing the third-period goal. Arneson stopped 22 shots in the game, his final save bringing a close to the game as time expired.

“Definitely feels good,” the junior goalie said of the win. “It’s kind of always been a dream of mine to play high school hockey and start obviously. To win first playoff game is a really big thing for me.”

Neither team was able to capitalize much on the power play, with the Eagles going just 1 for 7 and Minnesota River finishing 0 for 4. Despite the physical play and lack of power-play success, the Eagles were first on the board in the second period when Carsten Haala scored a power-play goal on an assist by Kayden Klein at 2:05 of the second.

The Eagles outshot the Bulldogs 30-23 in the game.

“Our defense did a really good job this game,” Arneson said. “Everyone just had a good game and really helped me out a lot. That was huge, got us a win.”

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau New Ulm goalie Blaine Arneson locks in during the third period before a faceoff in a Section 3A boys hockey playoff game against Minnesota River on Thursday in Le Sueur.

Buegler said coming into the playoff opener, the Eagles were confident and felt like despite their seed, they were the team to beat.

“Coming into the game, we were confident,” Buegler said. “Our team morale was high. I mean, all the boys wanted it more, we all wanted it, no matter what. We were willing to die out there for it. I feel like coming into it … they came into, they had to beat us. I feel we are the better team and we proved that.”

While the Eagles split with Minnesota River in the regular season, both games occurred in December just two weeks apart. New Ulm took the first game on Dec. 2, 2025, with a 2-1 overtime victory at home, while Minnesota River evened the series with a 5-3 win in Le Sueur on Dec. 16, 2025.

Thursday was a whole new game for both teams.

“I knew we could get it done,” Arneson said. “It was definitely a different atmosphere, a little louder, but as soon as I got on the ice, I knew we could win.”

Now the Eagles have a taller task at hand Saturday when they take on the Luverne Cardinals, who shut out Windom Area 11-0 on Thursday in another quarterfinals game.

The Cardinals defeated New Ulm 6-4 in New Ulm on Dec. 19, 2025, and 6-3 a little more than a week ago on Feb. 12.

“Both games against them this year, we kind of showed we can play with them, we’re just as good as good of a hockey team,” Buegler said. “I think when we played them there [in Luverne], we didn’t get the bounces we hoped for. If we could have got a couple more bounces, that game’s ours. So playing there and home, I think we kind of proved that we can take them, especially at Gustavus.”