35 games on Saturday. Here we go…
Faribault at Austin
Might as well start with the state’s second leading goal scorer- Olivia Williamson of Faribault. She has 30 goals in 17 games. Only Kelsey King of Elk River has more at 32. I’ve seen just about everyone play at least one game. This is one player I have never seen play. I don’t ever recall her doing any of the HP stuff. And therefore doesn’t do Elite League stuff. I know she plays for the Blades in the offseason. But she has to be good, right? 30 goals is A LOT of goals. She should go to Shattuck! She lives in Faribault for crying out loud. Faribault has a 13-4 record on the year.
Austin, on the other hand, has not been as successful. They are 4-11-1 and give up nearly twice as many goals as they score. They do have a really nice win over Mankato East.
These two have played each other twice already this year. Faribault has won both with a combined score of 15-4. The closest game being 5 goals. I can’t imagine a different scenario for this third meeting.
Faribault 7. Austin 1.
Roseau at East Grand Forks
Roseau just took it to EP in the Midwinter Meltdown and are riding high. They have won 4 in a row. The first win of this 4 game stretch was a 9-0 win over EGF. Besides Santl and Stoskopf the Rams have the Helgeson girls. I am not entirely sure if they are sisters or cousins or not related at all for that matter but they are all very good. Sophomore forward Kate Helgeson has 23 points. Senior forward Ella Helgeson has 16 points. Sophomore D Sophie Helgeson might be the most noticeable of the three. She is dangerously quick in the transition game.
East Grand Forks has not played a game since their 0-9 loss to Roseau on Dec 20th. Is the extended break helpful or not? I’m not sure but that loss is still in the forefront of their mind which I think helps in this game.
Roseau still wins but not nearly like they did in the last meeting.
Roseau 4. East Grand Forks 2.
Breck at Andover
Tough back to back for Breck. Blake on Friday night and turn right around to face Andover the next night. But if any team can do it Breck can. And part of that reason is their depth at goalie. Frantzick can play Friday and you can come back with a fresh Corniea the next night or vice versa. That is quite a luxury. The bulk of the goal scoring for Breck comes from two players- Olivia Mobley and Sadie Lindsay. 17 and 15 respectively. If they are going to have success against Andover some others will have to score some goals.
Andover has three losses on the year. All of them by one goal. The most recent of them was a nail biter vs. #1 Blake in the Schwan’s Cup final. One to #4 Forest Lake. And one to Minnetonka. Peyton Hemp- really good. Jamie Nelson- really good. Gabby Krause- really good. Madison Kaiser- really good. Sara Kaiser- really good. Wait…who? Sara Kaiser. Oh, she must be related to Madison Kaiser. Nope, she’s not. Sara, like the other Kaiser, is a 9th grader and is highly underrated. College coaches you might want to get out to see her.
Andover wins this one.
Andover 4. Breck 3.
Blaine at Edina
This is a rematch of the State Championship from 2 years ago. But Blaine has come back to Earth since then while Edina won another title and very likely could win another this year.
Edina will be down a few players. Two to injury and one to the World Juniors. Can Blaine take advantage of Edina’s depleted roster? I don’t think so.
Edina 5. Blaine 2.
Elk River at Hill Murray
Elk River’s Kelsey King has 32 goals and 49 points in 16 games. The next closest on the team has 11 goals and 19 points.
Hill Murray’s Katie Kaufman has 34 points. But they have 3 other players with more than 20 points- Steigauf with 27, Blinkhorn with 26, and Franco with 23.
Hill Murray’s depth is the difference.
Hill Murray 5. Kelsey King 3.
Shakopee at Wayzata
The last time these two played Shakopee won 2-1. That was December 12th, 2017. Wayzata lost two more in a row right after that loss to Shakopee but have gone 25-5 since.
Shakopee has found a little more offensive production over the last 5 games scoring 6, 1, 4, 5, and 3 goals while going 3-1-1 over that stretch.
Wayzata 5. Shakopee 2.
Sota Girls Hockey 