Warroad Head Coach Dave “Izzy” Marvin has a nickname for his team’s defensive play. 

“We call it ‘Sunday night open hockey’ defense,” Marvin said after his Warriors downed Willmar 7-4 on Wednesday in the quarterfinal round of the Class 1A State Tournament. “That’s what we’ve been playing lately, and it’s not gonna fly moving forward.”

After jumping out to a 3-0 lead early in the second period against the aggressive Cardinals, the Warriors surrendered back-to-back Willmar scores just over a minute apart, prompting the seasoned Marvin to call a timeout. 

“Izzy’s been here a lot of times,” Willmar coach Eric Setrum said with a chuckle. “He knows what to do. He settled them down and got them going.”

“I thought if we played our game, we wouldn’t need it later,” Marvin said. “Let’s do it now and see what happens.”

What did happen next was Marvin’s Warriors (22-4-2) scoring three times over the next seven minutes, stretching their lead to 6-2 over the Cardinals (18-9-1) before Bailey Olson sliced the lead deficit in half to end the second with a score of 6-3. 

Mya Monson pulled Willmar within two early in the third, but Warroad senior froward, Merrimack commit, and Ms. Hockey finalists Hannah Corneliusen cemented the victory with her 55th goal of the season.

Warroad forward Geno Hendrickson paced all skaters with three goals and four points, followed by Sydney Phaneuf, Talya Hendrickson, and Corneliusen, who all tallied three points in the win. 

Despite the scoring barrage, which has become routine for the high-powered Warriors, Marvin is far from pleased with the defensive effort from his defending state tournament runner-up squad. 

“We have to be better defensively,” Marvin said. “It’s been about a month, and I don’t quite understand it. We know they can (be better), but if we don’t, we won’t make it to Saturday.”