ST. PAUL — Kenny Loggins’ “Danger Zone” blasted through a mostly empty Xcel Energy Center prior to Wednesday’s third MSHSL state girls Class A quarterfinal, and the danger zone is exactly where the Albert Lea Tigers repeatedly found themselves in a lopsided 15-1 loss to the top-seeded Warroad Warriors.
The Warriors broke the girls state tournament record for most goals in a game and most combined goals between two teams. Both previous records, 13 goals by one team and 14 combined, were set by Warroad in its 13-1 quarterfinal win over Detroit Lakes in 2012.
"That's a good hockey team," Albert Lea coach Mark Goskeson said. "It's hard to stay with a team at that level."
Warroad’s Rylee Bartz, a senior transfer who played for Fargo North/South last season, took just over 12 minutes to get her first hat trick at the Minnesota state tournament and finished the game with five goals and two assists. Bartz's seven-point night is tied for the most by a player in a single game in the girls three-game tournament era.
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"These guys and [goalie Kate Stephens], they bring it every game and they set the tone," Warroad coach David Marvin said. "I don't know how many games this year we've scored on the first shift or gotten a great chance. We have tremendous leadership on our team, throughout our team, and they're pretty dialed right now."
Her power-play one-timer from the left circle at 3:16 of the first period opened the scoring after a perfect pass across the slot from linemate Kate Johnson. The third member of the Warriors’ high-scoring trio, Talya Hendrickson, picked up the second assist on the goal.
Bartz, Johnson and Hendrickson combined for 18 points in the contest and Madilyn Skogman also finished with a hat trick for Warroad.
Bartz’s third goal — a solo effort that began with Bartz stealing the puck away from an Albert Lea player in the Warroad zone before skating through the Tigers’ defense and sliding a shot through Moyer’s five-hole — was her 100th point of the season. She joins Gigi Marvin (2003-04, 2004-05) and Holly Roberts (2004-05, 2005-06), who both managed 100 points twice in their high school careers, as the only Warroad girls players to reach the milestone.
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"I'm still very impressed, but we've seen it a few times," Marvin said of the third Bartz goal. "We expect her to do that now."
Albert Lea goaltender Jadya Moyer was under siege from the opening puck drop as the last line of defense against a Warroad team that got its offensive zone cycle play going almost immediately. An overeager, perhaps sympathetic, arena video board operator was forced to remove a shot for the Tigers after the opening period to accurately reflect the real metrics: a 26-2 shots on goal advantage for the Warriors.
The Tigers came into the contest knowing the quality of competition they’d be facing, and how difficult things would be with a roster that features more middle schoolers than upperclassmen. That, and the partisan crowd cheering for the underdogs, brought the loudest cheer of the night when Albert Lea captain Shelby Evans tapped a rebound past Warroad goalie Kate Stephens during a 5-on-3 power play in the second period to get the Tigers on the board.
With few in attendance in the midst of a snowstorm outside, much of the crowd was made up of teams in the Class AA tournament killing time before their games on Thursday.
"It's exciting. It was really nice," Evans said on scoring. "There was a lot of hustle that whole game, and it was nice to have a little reward for that."
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The Tigers came into the contest knowing the quality of competition they’d be facing, and how difficult things would be with a roster that features more middle schoolers than upperclassmen.
For Warroad, 11 different players got on the scoresheet. That included contributions from all over the lineup, including the first goal of the season for sophomore forward Emily Lorenson.
"It's great to get our fourth line out there a couple shifts in that third period," senior forward Talya Hendrickson said. "It's fun to see them put the puck in the net, too. Because next year we have 10 seniors leaving, so they're gonna have to fill our spots and it's great to see that they can do that."
Warroad moves on to face the winner of 4-seed South St. Paul and 5-seed Fergus Falls in the second Class A semifinal on Friday at 1 p.m.
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Albert Lea 0-1-0–1
Warroad 4-5-6–15
FIRST PERIOD: 1, WAR, Bartz (Johnson, Hendrickson), 3:16, PP. 2, WAR, Bartz (Johnson, Hendrickson), 5:45. 3, WAR, Skogman (Hardwick), 8:07. 4, WAR, Bartz (unassisted), 12:13.
SECOND PERIOD: 5, WAR, Hendrickson (Johnson, Bartz), 2:36, PP. 6, WAR, Johnson (Bartz, Hendrickson), 5:22. 7, AL, Evans (Cichosz, Kolker), 8:03, PP. 8, WAR, Skogman (Lindquist), 10:34. 9, WAR, Johnson (Hendrickson, Comstock), 14:53, PP. 10, WAR, Chamernick (Sandy), 15:57.
THIRD PERIOD: 11, WAR, Bartz (Johnson, Hendrickson), 0:26, 12, WAR, Lindquist (Johnson), 1:33, 13, WAR, Hardwick (unassisted), 3:21, 14, WAR, Johnson (unassisted), 3:46, 15, WAR, Bartz (Hendrickson, Kirkeby) 7:19, 16, WAR, Skogman (Lorenson) 11:48
SHOTS: WAR 26-26-15–67, AL 2-3-2–7
SAVES: WAR, Stephens (2-2-2–6). AL, Moyer (22-21-3–46), Doppelhammer (0-0-6–6).
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