DULUTH — Proctor-Hermantown will be the third seed in the Class A state girls hockey tournament beginning Wednesday.
The bracket for the tournament at Xcel Energy Center and TRIA Rink in St. Paul was released Sunday morning by the Minnesota State High School League.
Proctor-Hermantown (19-7-1), champions of Section 7A, was drawn against unseeded Albert Lea (14-10-1) in a state quarterfinal to take place no earlier than 1 p.m. on Wednesday at Xcel Energy Center.
The Section 1A champion Tigers will be making their first appearance in the state tournament. They played three state-bound teams this season (Gentry Academy, Northfield, Luverne) and lost all three games by a combined total of 26-0.
The Mirage played six of the 16 state-bound teams and went 1-4-1. Their first two games of the season, both losses, were against the eventual No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the Class A bracket, Warroad and Orono.
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Orono was seeded second and will face Mankato East in the tournament's opening game on Wednesday at 11 a.m. with the winner facing the Mirage or Tigers in an 11 a.m. game on Friday. On the other half of the bracket, No. 1 Warroad meets the River Lakes Stars (a co-op program of several central Minnesota schools) at 6 p.m., with the nightcap featuring No. 4 South St. Paul and No. 5 Luverne.
Section 7AA champion Andover landed the top seed for that tournament, which begins with four quarterfinals on Thursday.
