I am a little late to the action on the Class A postseason as 1A and 5A already have games completed. But we are going to take a stab at it anyway. Here we go….
Section 1A
Albert Lea with a minor upset as the #5 seed beating the #4 seed Austin 3-1 in the opening game. The #3 seed Red Wing dispatched the #6 seed Waseca easily 5-1.
This sets up the first semifinal game between Albert Lea and the #1 seed Rochester Lourdes. The second semifinal will be Red Wing vs. #2 Faribault.
Lourdes should have no problem with Albert Lea. Their regular season match up was canceled due to weather and never rescheduled so we have nothing to go on there.
Olivia Williams and Faribault has too much fire power for Red Wing. In the only regular season match up Faribault won 5-0.
Lourdes over Faribault 4-1 in the final.
Section 2A
Teams: Mound Westonka, New Ulm, Litchfield, Minnesota River, Delano, Waconia.
Favorite: Mound
Defending Champ: New Ulm
Spoiler: I’m not so sure there is one. Hutch maybe? Mound would love Hutch to get past Delano. See below.
This should be an Mound vs. Delano final. Mound finished the regular season unbeaten at 20-0-5. They were 8-14-3 last year! 2 of those 5 ties this year were against Delano so barring any significant upsets this should be a GREAT section final game. I believe Mound continues their run but it won’t be a cake walk.
Section 3A
Teams: Mankato East, Luverne, Windom, Mankato West, Worthington, Marshall, Fairmont
Favorite: Mankato East. But by a slim margin.
Defending Champ: Marshall
Spoiler: Luverne. Not sure you can call them a spoiler. See below.
Here are the records of the top 4 seeds. East at 16-7-2. Marshall at 16-6-3. West at 13-9-3. Luverne at 15-6-3. This is literally anyone’s section. Just check out how tight it was in the regular season- Marshall lost to Luverne by a goal and they tied East 3-3 and West 2-2.
I think Mankato……………………………………………………………………………………………..
East. No West. Ummm No. Dang. East wins this section.
Section 4A
Teams: South St. Paul, Mahtomedi, St. Paul United, Simley, Sibley
Favortie: SSP
Defending Champ: SPU
Spoiler: SPU. Can SPU really be a spoiler as the #2 seed. Yes, they can considering their 10-13-2 record.
SSP should cruise through this section even though they lost to SPU in their second to last game of the regular season.
Section 5A
Teams: Breck, Chisago, Minneapolis, Totino-Grace, Orono, Holy Angels
Favorite: Breck
Defending Champ: Breck
Spoiler: No one.
Totino has already dispatched Orono. Chisago had a tight one vs. Holy Angels but prevailed 4-3.
There is no way Breck doesn’t come out of this section.
Section 6A
Teams: Fergus Falls, Alexandria, Willmar, River Lakes, Prairie Centre, Northern Lakes, Morris/Benson
Favorite: Fergus Falls
Defending Champ: Alexandria
Spoiler: No one. This is a two team section.
It is a forgone conclusion that Alexandria and Fergus Falls meet in the final. Fergus Falls and Alexandria met twice in the regular season. They split the series and both games were 1 goal games. I believe this is Fergus Falls’ year.
Section 7A
Teams: Proctor/Hermantown, Duluth Marshall, Cloquet, Hibbing, North Shore, Eveleth, International Falls, Moose Lake.
Favorite: Proctor/Hermantown
Defending Champ: Proctor Hermantown
Spoiler: Hibbing. Not a great record on the year but they have two good ones in Allie Bussey and Emma Lundell. They could catch lightning in a bottle again. They did it last year when as the #5 seed they upset the #1 seed DM in the semis.
This section is tight at the top with Proctor, DM, and Cloquet. Any one of these three could come out of here. Proctor record is 15-7-3. DM at 17-8 and Cloquet at 17-7. I believe Proctor wins it.
Section 8A
Teams: Warroad, TRF, East Grand Forks, Detroit Lakes, Crookston, Park Rapids
Favorite: Warroad
Defending Champ: Warroad
Spoiler: Ha. Really? No spoiler here. Warroad’s regular season record vs. the section is 5-0 and they outscored those opponents 29-3 in those games.
Warroad finished the year 24-0-1. The tie coming in the last game of the year vs. Roseau. As a team they average 5.40 GPG and 0.60 GA. They will roll through this section.
Sota Girls Hockey 