Hockey Section Playoffs BeginHopkins & Blake take momentum into girls hockey playoffs
Chris Todd - Lakeshore Weekly News
February 4, 2008
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This week marks the beginning of the girls hockey section playoffs as 16 teams in two classes will have tickets punched to the Xcel Energy Center and this year's state tournament.
Tough road in section 6-2A
One of the most intriguing sections is section 6-2A where Hopkins, Benilde-St. Margaret's and Wayzata own the top three seeds.
Top seeded Hopkins enters the postseason with a 19-3-3 record and a five-game winning streak. The Royals went 6-0-1 during the regular season against teams in their section, but they did not face second seed Benilde-St. Margaret's.
The Royals finished their season with three victories against quality opponents. They defeated Wayzata 5-1 on Jan. 22 to clinch the Classic Lake Conference title and then proceeded to defeat Grand Rapids 2-1 and White Bear Lake 4-2.
The Royals are led by junior forward Becky Kortum who has 33 goals and 20 assists for the season. Senior Jenna Peterson enters the playoffs with 12 goals and 20 assists.
The Royals will face the winner of the play-in game between eighth seed Rogers/Zimmerman and ninth seed Cooper in the quarterfinals on Saturday, Feb. 9.
Second seed Benilde-St. Margaret's enters a regular season finale on Tuesday, Feb. 5 with an 18-6 record and a nine-game winning streak to boot.
The Red Knights rifled through their North Suburban Conference schedule by going 14-0. Outside of their conference the Red Knights are only 4-6, but that does include a 5-0 victory earlier in the season over Wayzata.
The Red Knights are led by senior forward Kate Bacon who has 27 goals and 17 assists on the season. Senior forward Emma Shields-Nordness has also had a nice season with 20 goals and 19 assists.
The Red Knights will face the seventh seed Armstrong in a quarterfinal match-up on Feb. 9.
Third seed Wayzata has had an up and down season, but the Trojans hope a challenging schedule will pay dividends in the postseason. The Trojans enter section play with a 12-7-6 record, but they are just 1-3-1 in their last five games.
Senior Liz Orke is the leading goal-scorer for the Trojans with 16 on the season. Senior defenseman Jessica Laurinaitis has a team-high 29 assists to go along with eight goals.
The Trojans will face the sixth seed Maple Grove in a quarterfinal on Feb. 9. All section 6-2A games will take place at Parade Ice Arena in Minneapolis.
Minnetonka gets fourth seed
If there is a sleeper to look out for in section 2-2A it might be the number four seed Minnetonka. The Skippers enter postseason play with a 15-9-1 record, but they are 6-1-1 in their last eight games.
Freshman forward Rachel Ramsey leads the team in scoring with 21 goals and 19 assists. Junior forward Emily Meese adds 12 goals and eight assists.
If the seeds play out it would set up a semifinal match-up between Minnetonka and top seeded Eden Prairie. The Skippers were on the short end of a 3-2 final score when those two teams met back on Nov. 13.
First the Skippers must get by fifth seeded Chaska in the quarterfinals on Friday, Feb. 8. Ironically the two teams closed out the regular season by playing each other on Saturday, Feb. 2. The Skippers will hope for a replay of their 3-0 victory in that game.
Blake remains undefeated
The Blake girls hockey team capped off an undefeated regular season with a 2-1 victory over arch rival Breck on Saturday, Feb. 2.
Margaret Chute's goal with 7:32 remaining in the third period broke a 1-1 tie. Chute made a nice move with the puck at the blue line to maneuver her way into the slot where she deposited the puck in the lower right hand corner of the net.
The win gives the Bears a 22-0-3 record heading into the postseason. While the section five brackets had yet to be announced when this edition of the Lakeshore Weekly News went to press, the Bears will undoubtedly be the top seed in that section.
The Bears have outscored their opponents 117-20 so far this season and in the process have given up less than one goal per game.
Junior forward Sally Komarek leads the Bears offensively with 30 goals and 27 assists. Chute is not far behind with 21 goals and 24 assists of her own.
The bad news for the Bears is that Breck is also in section 5A. Besides the recent 2-1 game, the two teams played to a 1-1 tie earlier in the season. A third match-up in the section final is very possible.
A solid Mound-Westonka team is also section 5A and could receive the number three seed in the section.
The Whitehawks have a 16-7-2 record and a dangerous offensive weapon in freshman Taylor Kuehl. Kuehl has 37 goals and 23 assists this season and was held without a goal in only five of the team's 25 games.
Reprinted with permission LakeShore News
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