This is a crucial Section 2A game for seeding purposes as Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato travels to Parade Ice Garden to take on Minneapolis.  

Litchfield is coming off a 6-4 victory over Sauk Rapids/Rice as part of the Granite City Showcase over the holiday break. The Dragons are led up front by seniors Connor Taber (14 goals, 4 assists, 18 points), Brennan Olson (4-12-16), and Jaxson Gustafson (5-3-8) drive the offense with two solid scoring lines.  

Senior Calvin Jones (10-7-17) is on fire, with a monster week with 7 goals and 10 points in Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato's last three games. Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato is averaging 5.20 goals per game.  

On defense, seniors Caden Besemer (3-8-11) and Carson Tormanen (1-3-4), as well as junior Carson Wendorff (4-5-9), give Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato well-seasoned experience as well as some offensive punch from the back end. 

At goaltender, senior Travis Halonen (2.86 goals against average) has been the Dragons' anchor all season long. 

Minneapolis is feeling confident after a 9-2 rout of Section 2A foe Hutchinson in a game on New Year's Eve. They are led at forward by seniors Will Pankratz (7-5-12) and Andrew Lybeck (3-5-8), as well as juniors Ozzie Snodgrass (6-7-13) and Ronan Davis (7-4-11) set the pace for an offense that is showing steady signs of improvement as the season goes on. The power play has been mostly a non-factor this season at just 15.6%, although it did show some signs of life against Hutchinson.  

Senior captains Joel Hanson (2-8-10) and Will Anderson (1-5-6) lead a young group of defensemen on the blueline. Sophomores Maverick Knoke (1-2-3) and Nik Nordeen (0-1-1) are gaining more confidence and poise with each game. Staying out of the penalty box will be important for Minneapolis as they do not want to test their 72.7% penalty kill against the Dragons' 22.6% power play too often.  

Sophomore goaltender Griffin Simpson (.849 save percentage) has carried most of the duties between the pipes this season, but they have also utilized junior Mike Shroat (.869 save percentage).