It’s not every year in the State of Hockey that we see two heavyweight programs match up this early into the season. Many conventional coaches prefer to schedule softer conference games in an effort to “warm their team up” before taking on challenges holding heavy state seeding implications.

Well, throw all of that out the window.

In a matchup that did more than live up to its billing, No. 1-1A Warroad skated to a 3-2 overtime win over second-ranked Proctor-Hermantown in a rematch of the 2022 Class A championship. Kate Johnson led Warroad skaters with a pair of goals, and Reese Heitzman scored a couple of her own for Proctor-Hermantown.

Proctor-Hermantown jumped on the board before many fans at the St. Luke’s Sports and Event Center could settle into their seats, with Heitzman settling down a pretty feed from Nya Sieger and putting it home just fifty-nine seconds into the contest. Warroad answered right back, however, as Johnson scored less than two minutes later to even the game up. From there, special teams came into play, as the Mirage successfully killed two early minor penalties.

Special teams were a significant factor all game long, and they came into play once again late in the second period. Reese Heitzman found twine on the powerplay, giving Proctor-Hermantown a 2-1 lead heading into the third period. Despite the deficit on the scoreboard, Warroad’s offense was firing on all cylinders, pushing the Mirage defense to the brink all game long. After a long dry spell, a redirected puck from the stick of Kate Johnson ended up behind goaltender Neelah McLeod to knot it up at 2-2 midway through the third period.

After a late Mirage penalty was successfully killed, and after a pair of timeouts from coaches Izzy Marvin and Emma Stauber, the two sides headed to an eight-minute session of bonus hockey. Evidently, Warroad wanted to head back up north early, as it took just eighty-eight seconds for forward Kaiya Sandy to score the game-winner and send the Warriors back home happy. After a convincing 8-2 win over Duluth Marshall on Friday night, Warroad advances to (2-0) with big wins over Class A powers as they seek their second consecutive state championship. Proctor-Hermantown falls to (1-1) after a 6-0 win over Roseville/Mahtomedi on Friday night.

The Star: Kate Johnson 

After tallying five assists in last night’s win over Duluth Marshall, Kate Johnson decided it was her turn to start lighting the lamp.

In a game littered with Bemidji State commits (four, to be exact), Johnson stood out as the brightest of them all, with a pair of goals and several dazzling passes. The line of Johnson, Rylee Bartz (St. Thomas), and Talya Hendrickson (Bemidji) was far and away the best unit on the ice and will continue to be a nightmare for opposing defenses this season.

The Stalwart: Neelah McLeod

One of the biggest questions coming into the season for the Mirage was goaltending after graduating long-time starter Abby Pajari. Consider those questions answered.

Sophomore Neelah McLeod, making her second career start and her first start of the season, was utterly dominant, posting 45 saves on 48 shots. Proctor-Hermantown opens their season with a pair of sensational goaltending performances, as Suri Langley hung a shutout on Roseville/Mahtomedi on Friday night.

The Savior: Kaiya Sandy

Despite peppering Neelah McLeod with shots, Warroad’s forwards struggled to create high-quality chances from close distances all game. Enter Kaiya Sandy.

Sandy forced a turnover deep in the Mirage zone and snuck a wrister over the right shoulder of McLeod eighty-eight seconds into the extra session, sending the Warriors back up north with a W. Sandy also had a pair of goals in Friday’s win over Duluth Marshall.