Game One

North Branch (19-7-2) vs. No. 2 St. Cloud Cathedral (24-4), 11 A.M. 

The Vikings, who practice 13 miles away in Chisago Lakes each weekday morning, make their first trip to the Class 1A State Tournament after winning five straight games to conclude the regular season and section 5A playoffs. Paced by a pair of sophomore forwards in Cody Croal (25 goals, 23 assists, 48 points) and Joey Kerchner (19-16-35), the Vikings pulled off close wins over Princeton and Chisago Lakes in the section semifinals and finals respectively to earn the trip to St. Paul.

Goaltender Jake Turek has posted a record of 18-7-2 this season and stopped 86 of 90 shots through three postseason games. Despite strong statistical showings in the first and second periods, North Branch has allowed opponents to score 27 of their 59 goals (45%) in the third frame. 

To welcome North Branch to their first state tournament, the Vikings draw No. 2 seed St. Cloud Cathedral, making its third appearance in four seasons.

The Crusaders feature 13 players that have topped the 10-point plateau this season, and the lineup gets a boost with the return of a fully healthy Nate Warner. Warner, a Minnesota verbal commit, has totaled 15 goals and 32 points in 13 games, including a 4-6-10 stat line in the Section 6-1A playoffs. Junior forward Blake Perbix (21-46-67) leads the team in scoring, followed by fellow junior and Minnesota-Duluth verbal commit Jack Smith (27-35-62).

While the Crusaders outscored their opponents 21-1 during the Section 6-1A playoffs, the power play has sputtered as of late, with the team converting on just three of 28 man-advantage opportunities over the last seven games. In the previous five games, the Crusaders are just 1-15 on the power play. 

Game Two 

Minnesota River (20-4) vs. No. 3 East Grand Forks (21-7), 1 P.M.

Despite having four of its last five regular-season games canceled due to weather, Minnesota River rolled through Section 3-1A to make its first state tournament appearance. The co-op comes out of the Big South Conference, with a schedule heavy on teams in southern Minnesota, and the Bulldogs have not played team farther north than North Branch this season.

The senior forward duo of Hunter Wilmes (29-31-60) and Tyson Sowder (21-22-43) spearhead the Minnesota River offensive attack, with supplemental scoring coming from junior forward Charlie Weick (14-19-33). Goaltender Andrew Regner stopped 82 of 89 shots faced during the section tournament. 

For the first time in nearly a month, East Grand Forks will play a road game, with all three of the Green Wave’s Section 8-1A games having been played at the East Grand Forks Civic Center. The Green Wave last played on enemy ice on Feb. 9 in a loss to Alexandria. Highlighted by a mix of veteran production and young talent, East Grand Forks features scoring threats in senior forwards Tanner Mack (19-21-40) and Carter Beck (12-20-32) as well as freshman defenseman Trey Ausmus (8-18-26) and sophomore forward Landon Parker (12-13-25).

Goaltender Tucker Brown has totaled six shutouts so far this season, and the Green Wave are 2-1 against teams competing in this week’s state tournament.

Game Three 

New Ulm (17-8-1) vs. No. 1 Mahtomedi (21-6-1), 6 P.M.

New Ulm is the second member of the Big South Conference to make an appearance at this year’s state tourney, joining Minnesota River. The Eagles were the No. 3 seed in Section 3-1A, and pulled an upset of No. 2 seed Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato in the semifinals before ending the Cinderella run of fifth-seeded Hutchinson in the finals.

Senior forward Landon Strong (18-16-34) will look to build off a strong performance in the section playoffs, in which he totaled seven goals and eight points. Junior forward Glavine Schugel is the team’s leading scorer with 27 goals and 51 points.

The first period has been somewhat of an Achilles heel for the Eagles, where they have scored the least (31 goals) and allowed the most goals of any period (27). 

After last season’s fourth-place finish, Mahtomedi lost varsity veteran and decorated goaltender Bailey Huber to transfer and leading scorer Charlie Bartholomew to graduation.

Without missing a beat, the Zephyrs replaced Bartholomew with shifty junior forward Nikolai Dulak (15-25-40) and Huber with freshman Ben Dardis, who began this fall with the Mahtomedi Bantam AA team before making the varsity out of tryouts. Dardis has been nothing short of outstanding while splitting time with John Poirer, winning the last two Section 4-1A games and posting a line of 12-4-1, 1.55 goals-against average, .930 save percentage, and five shutouts entering the tournament.

In addition to Dulak, scoring duties lie with senior forward Joe Paradise (13-24-37) and junior forward Colin Hagstrom (17-18-35). Hagstrom is also the ace face-off specialist for the perennial power Mahtomedi boys’ lacrosse team. Seven players on the Mahtomedi roster have totaled 30 or more points.

Game Four 

No. 5 Delano (17-9-2) vs. No. 4 Greenway (15-13), 8 P.M.

Days before Christmas, Delano’s bid at a state tournament seemed nonexistent. The Tigers were 2-6-1 and had been held under two goals in a game five times. Fast-forward to early March, and the Tigers are 9-0-1 in their last 10 games and shut out all three opponents in Section 2-1A to earn a spot in the state tournament.

Senior forward Hogan Williams leads the team in scoring with 16 goals and 34 points, followed by Adam Brown’s 17 goals and 33 points. Goaltender Aaron Kruse has recorded six shutouts this season, including those three clean sheets during the section playoffs. Kruse stopped 50 of 50 shots in those three games. 

Greenway upset No. 1 ranked Hermantown in double-overtime in the Section 7-1A finals, ending the Hawks’ run of nine straight state tournament appearances. Senior forward Donte Lawson scored the game-winner against Hermantown and concluded section play with six goals and 11 points. Lawson leads the Raiders with 33 goals and 62 total points.

Junior forward and St. Cloud State verbal commit Ben Troumbly (21-19-40) and senior Nikolai Rajala (12-21-32) are second and third in scoring respectively. After playing seven games during the regular season, Logan Wright found his groove in the playoffs, stopping 87 of 92 shots in three victories.