Moorhead, Roseau claim big wins among other tight section tournament action

Girls high school hockey section tournament action is finally underway and teams are officially starting their 'trek to the X'.

Sections 7A and 8AA both held their quarterfinal games on Tuesday, Feb. 7, while Section 7AA started their tournament with a play-in match between the eight and nine seeds. Find out who advanced in each of the games in a recap of the night below.

Moorhead proved why they are the No. 1-seed in this section as they came up big in a 8-0 victory over Sartell-Sauk Rapids. The Spuds outshot the Storm'n Sabres by a 56-7 margin over the entire game.

Moorhead senior Olivia Dronen (Bemidji State) lead the team with five points, earning two goals and three assists, while goaltender Taylor Kressin earned the shutout in net.

On the bottom side of the bracket, fifth-seeded Brainerd/Little Falls ended up with the upset win over fourth-seeded Bemidji, 7-3.

The two teams came into the match-up with very comparable overall records, but the Warriors would come out with the win after senior Macy Peterson (Post) netted her first varsity hat trick.

Fifth-seeded Brainerd/Little Falls advanced to the semifinals to take on top-seeded Moorhead. The Spuds beat the Warriors 9-1 and 3-1 earlier in the season. The semifinal match is 7 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 11 in Moorhead.

On the other side of the bracket, high-seeds remained dominant as second-seeded Roseau took down seventh-seeded Buffalo, 4-0, and third-seeded Alexandria defeated St. Cloud, the sixth seed, 6-3.

The Rams were lead by freshman Jasmine Hovda in the quarterfinal game as she netted three goals and an assist for a team-high of four points. Junior goaltender Jada Pelowski saved all 15 shots on goal for Roseau in the 4-0 victory.

Six different skaters found the back of the net for Alexandria in their 6-3 win over St. Cloud. Neither team scored in the first period of play, but that wouldn't matter as the Cardinals netted three in both the second and third frames for the victory.

The Cardinals will face-off against the Rams in the semifinals on Saturday, Feb. 11 at a time to-be-determined in Roseau.

Semifinals have also been determined in Section 7A as all of the quarterfinal games have now been played.

First-ranked Proctor/Hermantown earned a bye and will automatically be present in the semifinal round.

Cloquet-Esko-Carlton earned a 3-1 victory over Rock Ridge in the quarterfinals. CEC came in as the four-seed while Rock Ridge was ranked fifth.

The Lumberjacks will advance to the semifinals to face-off against No. 1 Proctor/Hermantown at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11 in Cloquet. The Mirage previously defeated CEC 4-0 back in December.

On the other side of the bracket, second-seeded Duluth Marshall came out with a huge 10-1 win over seventh-seeded North Shore. Junior Ilsa Lindamann (St. Thomas) had a seven-point game, tacking on four goals and three assists, while teammate Nina Thorson also posted a hat trick and two assists. Shots on goal were 43-11 in favor of the Hilltoppers.

Third-seeded Moose Lake Area defeated six-seed Hibbing/Chisholm in a 4-0 shutout victory. Goaltender Malea Jerry stopped all 32 shots in the game while multiple skaters earned points on the scoresheet.

The Lady Rebels will advance to the semifinals to face-off against the Hilltoppers. Moose Lake has played Duluth Marshall twice this season, losing both times by scores of 3-2 and 5-0. The semifinal game will be played at 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11 in Cloquet.

Only one game was played in Section 7AA on Tuesday, a play-in match for the eight and nine seeds.

No. 8 Northern Tier (St. Francis, North Branch, and Cambridge-Isanti) came out with a close 1-0 victory over No. 9 Princeton/Becker/Big Lake/Spectrum. The Stars' lone goal came from sophomore Makenna Sanders while goaltender Abby Thurmer stopped all 20 shots on goal. Tigers netminder Shelby Ulm stopped 53 of 54 shots.

Northern Tier officially wins the play-in game and will advance to the quarterfinals where they play first-seeded Andover. The two teams haven't played yet this season, but the Huskies beat the Stars 16-0 last year in the same quarterfinal match.

Quarterfinals for 7AA will be played on Thursday, Feb. 9.