Class A GHS Sectionals Wednesday Feb 4
Section 1A opens play Wednesday-Wingers and Trojans again?
Section 3A kicked off the Class A sectionals with two quarterfinal games Tuesday. Wednesday, Section 1A plays their quarterfinals with the most interesting 1A opener being the game between Austin and Faribault. Section 6A’s draw is still not out as of Wednesday morning. Section 6A quarterfinals are scheduled for Saturday, February 7th at the highest seed. Three regular season games were played Tuesday involving Class A teams; Orono ties South St. Paul 2-2, Minneapolis beat the St. Paul Blades 7-1, and Moose Lake beat Henry Sibley 3-0.
Tuesday games Section 3A
Two games were played Tuesday in Class A. In Section 3A quarterfinals, Marshall took an early lead over Worthington/Fulda and went on to win 11-0 led by senior Teegan Wyffels four goals. Eighth grader Sydney Mauch added four goals. Junior goalie Morgan Morrill got the shutout. Marshall will play a semifinal game at Luverne Friday, February 6th. In the second quarterfinal game Tuesday, Fairmont broke open the game in the second period and went on to beat Windom Area 8-1. The Cardinals’ leading scorer Brooke Lemon got the hat trick. Windom Area struggled in their game, but are a young team with potential. They lose only one player through graduation and skated 10 players in eighth and ninth grade this year. Fairmont travels to New Ulm for their semifinal game against the Eagles on Friday, February 6th. New Ulm, the #1 seed in 3A, is the favorite to beat the Cardinals on home ice; but Fairmont can make it a close game especially since the winner of this game will be favored to make the trip to Xcel.
New Ulm's captains, Erika Ries, Brittany Denn, and Brook Schugel ready to make the run for the seventh.
Quarterfinals
Marshall-11 Worthington/Fulda-0
Fairmont-8 Windom Area-1
Semifinals (Friday February 6th)
7:00 PM Fairmont at New Ulm
7:00 PM Marshall at Luverne
Wednesday February 4th sectional games
Section 1A
The Section 1A starts play with four quarterfinal games played today at the higher seed’s home arena.
The #1 Red Wing team will be heavy favorites to beat Albert Lea in their quarterfinal game. The Wingers (20-4-1) are unbeaten in their last 12 games since losing to Breck 3-1 just before Christmas. They have the state’s #2 scorer this season in Reagan Haley (85 points/41 goals) backed by Taylor Heise (61 points/26 goals). The Wingers have offensive depth. Albert Lea offense is led by junior Hannah Savelkoul (20 points/13 goals) and defensively by senior goaltender Katie Schwarz.
The Section 1A #2 seed New Prague hosts #7 Waseca in a clash between Wright County Conference and Big South Conference teams. The Trojans’ offense is led by two 2012 YHH Top 50 peewee A picks, ninth grader Catie Skaja (54 points/28 goals) and sophomore Haley Dietz (24 points/10 goals). Waseca offense is led by the Bluejays’ scoring duo of Riley Brown and Hailie Tegmeier. Waseca freshman goalie Danni Dahms has had a good year in the nets stopping 91% of the shots on goal.
Northfield hosts Winona in a third Section 1A quarterfinal game. Winona offense is led by senior Molly Sanvik. Northfield’s offense is led by junior Laine Fischer and sophomore Brynn Puppe. Northfield’s defense has been tough this year holding their opponents to an average of 3 goals per game.
Austin travels to Faribault in the fourth quarterfinal game. This game should be the best of the Section 1A quarterfinal games. Austin has lost four of their last five games. One of those losses was to Fairbault 3-1, but another lost was last weekend to highly rated Rochester John Marshall/Lourdes 3-2. Austin has three scorers with 35 or more points (junior Chloe Summerfield-59 points, junior Madison Overby-37 points, and ninth grader Myia Hoium-35 points). After beating Austin 3-1, Faribault lost four of their last five games. The Falcons’ offense is led by three 20 points or more scorers (senior Lexus Tatge-24 points, ninth grader Payton Putrah-21 points, and junior Megan Johnstad-20 points). The Falcons better be ready, Austin looks ready to roll.
New Prague scores in the 4-3 loss to Red Wing in the Farmington Tourney played over New Years Day.
Section 1A Quarterfinals
7:00 PM-Winona at Northfield
7:00 PM-Waseca at New Prague
7:00 PM-Austin at Faribault
7:00 PM-Albert Lea at Red Wing
Section 5A Play-in
St. Louis Park was on its way to a winning season when it opened Metro West Conference play in Mid-January. In the four team Metro West, the Orioles played six home and home games with Benilde-St. Margaret’s, Jefferson, and Chaska/Chanhassen and were beaten soundly. Now the question is can St. Louis Park recover playing Minneapolis tonight? The Park’s offense is led by junior Elena Basil (41 points/20 goals) and seventh grader Olivia Mobley (26 points/12 goals). The Orioles beat Minneapolis 4-3 earlier in the season. Minneapolis broke a twelve game losing streak Tuesday night with their 7-1 win over the St. Paul Blades. Nova’s leading scorer is sophomore Lucy Riley.
7:30 PM-St. Louis Park at Minneapolis (Parade Ice Gardens)
Regular season ends
Regular season ended Tuesday with three games played involving Class A teams. Orono (seeded #3 in Section 5A behind Blake and Breck) tied South St. Paul 2-2. The Packers are seeded #2 in Section 4A behind St. Paul United. Orono came back with two late third period goals to tie the game by Haley Nielsen and Brianna Bren. Minneapolis, Section 5’s #8 seed, beat the St. Paul Blades 7-1. The Blades are seeded #8 in Section 4A. Minneapolis sophomore Lucy Riley scored four of the seven Novas goals. Moose Lake Area (seeded #4 in Section 7A) beat Henry Sibley 3-0. Sibley is seeded #7 in Section 4A. The Rebels’ leading scorer sophomore Jamie Bird (75 points/34 goals) scored twice against Sibley. Rebel ninth grade Goalie Maddy Gamst stopped all 26 Sibley shots on goal to earn the shutout. Alexander’s game with Northern Lakes was cancelled.
St. Louis Park sophomore goalie Anna Gleason turns this Chaska/Chanhassen shot right in the Orioles' loss to the Hawks in the Metro West.