For the third time in five years, Brainerd/Little Falls is facing off with Andover in the state tournament.
After advancing to the Class 2A state tournament last Thursday with a 2-1 win over Moorhead in the Section 8-2A, the seeding of the state tournament announced Sunday pitted the top-seed Huskies against the Warriors 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 24, at the Xcel Energy Center.
“I know our girls are excited and our coaching staff is excited,” first-year Warriors head coach Tate Rusk said. “We know it will be a good test and our girls are anxious and want a piece of Andover.”
Andover holds a 27-0 record which warrants the No. 1 seed in the tournament. The Huskies average 5.44 goals a game while surrendering just 0.93.
Ella Boerger is Andover’s top point getter at 68 with 28 goals and 40 assists. Madison Brown has tallied 33 assists and 25 goals for 56 points. A third Huskie player, Iasbel Goettl, also has eclipsed the 50-point mark with 23 goals and 26 assists.
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“Our girls really move the puck unselfishly,” Andover head coach Melissa Volk said. “We focus on executing, but I think it all stems from the puck movement and a lot of times our offense is set up by our defensemen as well.”
BLF (17-11) averages 2.32 goals a contest while allowing just 1.86.
“I think it’s up to our girls to just keep it simple and don’t overthink things,” Rusk said. “(Assistant coach) Jim Ernster had a message for the girls, you know, everyone is 3-0, everyone won their playoffs and everyone is coming into the tournament 3-0. (Goalie coach) Tony Couture had a good add-on saying ‘there’s a reason you’re at the Xcel Energy Center and it’s because you’re a dang good hockey team and don’t doubt yourself.”’
Senior captain Brynne Folden, who scored the game-winner for the Warriors in the Section 8-2A final, leads BLF in points at 20 with 11 assists and nine goals. Molly Hagelie is the top goal scorer for the Warriors with 10 to go with eight assists.
Hagelie and Peyton LeMieur are both tied for second in points with 18 as LeMieur has nine goals and nine assists.
“Going into the third period of the Moorhead game we told the girls ‘don’t sit back, don’t play survival mode, we need to attack,’” Rusk said. “It’s going to need to be the same thing Thursday night. We need to go in attack mode and not sit back. Now we need to be smart in our system, but it’s going to be one of those nights where if an opportunity presents itself we have to bury it and we have to capitalize on that opportunity. We know they are going to be fast and skilled, we just have to be ready to be fundamentally sound in the D zone.”
Last time the Warriors were in the state tournament was 2019 where they finished second. In the semifinals of that tournament, BLF faced Andover and won 3-2 in overtime.
Lucy Peterson, who scored in that semifinal game, is the only holdover from that team as well as Breya Sawyer who was the backup goalie.
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“There’s a bad taste in our mouth from the last time we played Brainerd,” Volk said. “They had an awesome game and team that year, but we don’t know much about Brainerd this year. I’d imagine they have kids willing to work hard since they upset the No. 1 seed.”
BLF also made state in 2018 where they were pitted against top-seeded Edina in the quarterfinals. After losing to the Hornets, the Warriors faced off against Andover in the consolation bracket and lost 4-3.
The Huskies have been no stranger to the state tournament. This year marks their fifth straight season as Section 7-2A champions, seventh appearance overall.
Andover finished second in state last year after coming into the tournament undefeated, but won the state title in 2020. They finished fourth in 2019, the year the Warriors beat them in semifinals, and were state consolation champions in 2018.
“We have very few returners from last year’s team,” Volk said. “Then last year was such a weird situation where we were limited to just our conference games. So we were undefeated but we didn’t play anyone in the top 10 really. This year, we have faced a little more adversity, but our few returners do want to finish it off this year.”
Sawyer most likely will be in the net for the Warriors Thursday as she’s been dynamic in the Warriors’ run to state. She holds a 91.1 save percentage with a 1.95 goals against average and five shutouts. She notched 26 saves on 27 shots in the win over Moorhead to get to state.
“Riah Stroot and Reagan Aus, the senior defensemen back there, are doing a great job,” Rusk said. “Lucy Peterson and Kendra Couture are also doing a great job of running the bluelines and protecting the neutral zone. And it helps that Breya is continuing her hot streak and she’s been locked in at practice and we aren’t going to change everything up on these girls. Just act like it’s another week and get prepped up.”
In Andover’s net, Courtney Stagman started 24 games for the Huskies with a 94.8 save percentage, a 1.00 goals against average and nine shutouts.
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“Their defenseman are young, but they are very talented,” Rusk said. “They are skilled offensively and like to jump into the play, and their record speaks for itself, but at the end of the night it’s about who is going to win the game on Thursday.”
Even if the Warriors might be considered underdogs, Rusk is trying to keep his team level headed.
“Obviously, the attitude you want is that you are going to disrupt this perfect season,” Rusk said. “But right now we want to keep the girls and coaches staff level headed. We are excited to get down there and represent Brainerd and Little Falls and go down swinging, if we do.”
Class 2A State Tournament Quarterfinals
Matchup: No. 1 Andover (27-0) vs. Brainerd/Little Falls (17-11)
When: 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 24
Where: Xcel Energy Center
CONRAD ENGSTROM may be reached at 218-855-5861 or conrad.engstrom@brainerddispatch.com. Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/the_rad34.
