The Hawks come into the state tournament with a 18-8-2 record and also sport the #1 rank in state. They look to get revenge after last years loss in the semi finals to Mahtomedi. Led by Junior Forward River Freeman who has a total of 41 points on the season in a total of 28 games. The first team they will face Alexandria. They will look to pounce on them early and cruise to victory.
Warroad also looks to avenge last years tournament when an unexpected overtime loss to Mahtomedi happened in the Championship game. Warroad carries the #2 seed in state right now and after a upset win over East Grand Forks look to make some noise in the state tournament, and looking t0 stomp everyone. Warroad sitting 23-5-0 which is very impressive with the schedule they have played. Senior captain Carson Pilgrim who leads the team with 68 points and 34 goals will be looking to keep this streak up on Wednesday against the New Ulm Eagles.
The Crusaders move on to the state tournament after an amazing overtime section championship win over the Monticello Moose. Cathedral holds the #3 seed in state and after last years upsetting first round exit loss to Warroad. Cathedrals roster holds many offensive weapons who are surly no stranger to scoring goals, with three players who have over 60 points and 6 players with over 20. John Hirschfeld leading the way with 75 point in total and 24 goals Hirschfeld will be looking to capitalize on any chance he gets. Their first opponent will be Northfield who they had beaten 4-2 earlier in the season and look to repeat that.
Mahtomedi will be looking to repeat last years state title win and take home the ship, carrying the #4 seed and sporting a decent record of 14-11-0. The Zephyrs have play a tough schedule thus far and have ha their ups and downs but so far have been playing great hockey. They look to upset many and have a great tournament.
The Spartan will head into the state tournament with a 20-8-0 record and also sport the #5 seed. After an impressive semi-final run last year and a loss against Warroad they will look to beat that with a championship run. This quarterfinal game will be a rematch of a regular season game where Mahtomedi won 5-2. that game was a relatively lop sided game in Orono’s favor they just weren’t able to put the puck in the net. Mahtomedi took a lot of penalties and didnt have much shots. Orono will be looking to repeat that narrative and bury the Zephyrs.
The Raiders thus far have been playing great hockey and look to upset Cathedral in great fashion. The Raiders have meet with the Crusaders once before this season the outcome was not in their favor. with a 22-4-0 record they sure are not shy of winning. Jake Geiger leads the team with over 60 points and looks to lead the boys to victory on Wednesday.
The Cardinals are in the tourney for the second year in a row and are no strangers to this game. In the section final Alex cruise to victory with a 6-1 win over Northern Lakes and look to upset the #1 seed Hermantown. With having a 18-9-1 record the cardinal prove they can play, after last years disappointing first round exit they look to make a big statement and prove many wrong.
The Eagles are a team that no one expected to see in the tournament this year, after a convincing 4-2 victory over Marshall in the section final they look to have a great game against the Warroad warriors and upset them. New Ulm sports a 23-5-0 record with convincing wins over many teams they proved the belong.
