Even though the weather may be hazardous in most parts Minnesota on Tuesday night, there were still plenty of high school teams in action to start their section tournament play. Find out who's in and who's out after the first few official nights of postseason competition.
Section 1A:
No. 6 Winona/Cotter, 5 > No. 11 Red Wing, 0
No. 7 Faribault, 7 > No. 10 Austin, 1
No. 8 Rochester Lourdes, 5 > No. 9 Waseca, 4
High seeds reign supreme. Faribault and Winona/Cotter came up with dominant wins while Rochester Lourdes had a scrappy victory over Waseca.
Section 2A:
No. 7 Waconia, 3 > No. 10 Mound Westonka, 0
Waconia, the high seed, had a solid performance over Mound Westonka. Nothing too surprising.
ADVERTISEMENT
Section 3A:
No. 8 Fairmont, 7 > No. 9 Worthington, 5
No. 7 Windom, 6 > No. 10 Redwood Valley, 0
Fairmont and Worthington played a gritty, high-scoring game, while Windom proved its strength over lowest-seeded Redwood Valley.
Section 5A:
No. 8 Sauk Rapids-Rice, 6 > No. 9 Becker/Big Lake, 1
No. 7 Pine City, 8 > No. 10 Mora/Milaca, 3
———————————————————————
No. 1 Little Falls, 4 > No. 8 Sauk Rapids-Rice, 2
No. 2 Monticello, 2 > No. 7 Pine City, 1
No. 3 Cathedral, 5 > No. 6 River Lakes, 0
No. 4 Cambridge/Isanti, 6 > No. 5 Princeton, 4
Sauk Rapids-Rice earned a dominant victory over Becker/Big Lake before giving Little Falls one good fight until the finish. Pine City also won their first game in dominant fashion and even came close to pulling off the upset over Monticello. Woof! Section 5A is a mess. St. Cloud Cathedral played well against River Lakes though.
Section 6A:
No. 1 Alexandria, 14 > No. 8 Breckenridge/Wahpeton, 0
No comment. Ouch.
Section 7A:
No. 8 North Shore, 5 > No. 9 Ely, 4
No. 7 International Falls, 11 > No. 10 Moose Lake, 1
————————————————————————
No. 1 Hermantown, 15 > No. 8 North Shore, 1
No. 2 Rock Ridge, 9 > No. 7 International Falls, 0
No. 3 Duluth Denfeld, 7 > No. 6 Greenway, 0
No. 4 Hibbing/Chisholm, 2 > No. 5 Proctor, 0
Five North Shore goals in a row followed by four Ely goals in a row. Yes, seriously, that's how it happened. Moose Lake had a bad night while International Falls had a great night. Hermantown then subsequently squashed North Shore's playoff hopes the very next game. Rock Ridge and Denfeld both put up good performances. Hibbing/Chisholm slipped past Proctor.
ADVERTISEMENT
Section 8A:
No. 8 Park Rapids, 2 > No. 9 Crookston, 1
No. 7 Bagley/Fosston, 8 > No. 10 Lake of the Woods, 5
Park Rapids earned a hard-fought win, only to advance to now have to play undefeated Warroad. That will be tough. Bagley/Fosston also posted a high-scoring win but will have a tough task ahead in East Grand Forks.
Section 2AA:
No. 2 Minnetonka, 4 > No. 7 Chaska, 0
No. 1 Chanhassen, 9 > No. 8 Bloomington Jefferson, 0
As expected, Minnetonka came out with a win over Chaska. The Hawks had a nice run this season though after many thought they wouldn't. Chanhassen netted nine goals and breezed past Jefferson, no problem. The road only gets tougher and tougher in Section 2AA tough with multiple bigger and better opponents ahead.
Section 3AA:
No. 2 Cretin-Derham Hall, 7 > No. 7 Apple Valley/Burnsville, 0
No. 3 Rosemount, 7 > No. 6 Eagan, 1
No. 4 Eastview, 5 > No. 5 Park, 4 (OT)
The Raiders and the Irish take their expected wins. Eastview had to battle, hard, to get past Park of Cottage Grove in overtime, but they found a way to get the win which will keep their postseason dreams alive, for now.
Section 5AA:
No. 8 Spring Lake Park, 5 > No. 9 Irondale, 1
Nothing really surprising here. No. 1 Rogers lies ahead for Spring Lake Park.
ADVERTISEMENT
Section 6AA:
No. 1 Wayzata, 9 > No. 8 Hopkins, 1
No. 2 Edina, 12 > No. 7 Armstrong/Cooper, 0
No. 3 Benilde-St. Maraget's , 7 > No. 6 Blake, 1
No. 4 St. Louis Park, 4 < No. 5 Holy Angels, 5 (OT)
Wayzata and Edina win big, not surprising. The Red Knights however did have a little bit of a surprising night and potted seven goals on the Bears. Holy Angels got a huge win for their program and defeat St. Louis Park, who was seeded one above the Stars.
Stars win! Stars win! First section win since 2009 - couldn’t be more proud of a group of kids. Soph Charlie Clements with his second of the game to win it in OT. Stars advance to the Section 6AA Semifinals vs #1 Wayzata. Go Stars! #stars #PoundTheRock pic.twitter.com/B5aBzDztbv
— Academy of Holy Angels Boys Hockey (@HolyAngelsPuck) February 22, 2023
Section 7AA:
No. 8 Blaine, 5 > No. 9 Anoka, 1
No. 7 Duluth Marshall, 15 > No. 10 Northern Edge, 1
————————————————————————
No. 1 Duluth East, 5 > No. 8 Blaine, 0
No. 2 Andover, 11 > No. 7 Duluth Marshall, 2
No. 3 Grand Rapids, 4 > No. 6 Forest Lake, 1
No. 4 C-E-C, 3 < No. 5 Coon Rapids, 6
Blaine defeated Anoka in the play-in game. Duluth Marshall boasted 15 goals. Sorry Northern Edge, that one must've hurt a little bit. Blaine then fell to top-seeded Duluth East while Duluth Marshall also fell to No. 2 Andover. Grand Rapids pulled out a win. Coon Rapids though, earned a really solid win for over Cloquet-Esko-Carlton. One of the biggest surprises of the night.
Section 8AA:
No. 8 St. Cloud, 3 < No. 9 Brainerd, 4
——————————————————
No. 1 Moorhead, 6 > No. 9 Brainerd, 2
No. 2 Roseau, 9 > No. 7 Bemidji, 3
No. 3 Buffalo, 1 < No. 6 Elk River/Zimmerman, 3
No. 4 Sartell, 4 > No. 5 St. Michael-Albertville, 2
St. Cloud lost a close play-in game to Brainerd, who subsequently fell to top-seeded Moorhead. Roseau defeated Bemidji easily. Sartell advanced. The Sabres will be a team to keep an eye on after tying Warroad just a few days ago. Buffalo, who had a nice last month or two, unfortunately were upset by Elk River/Zimmerman in the semifinals.
The Trust Project
