CLASS AA STATE GIRLS HOCKEY TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINAL PAIRINGS
GAMES PLAYED FEBRUARY 21 AT XCEL ENERGY CENTER, ST. PAUL
11:00: Forest Lake vs. Eden Prairie (Seed 2)
1:00: Eagan vs. Hill-Murray (Seed 3)
6:00: Irondale vs. Minnetonka (Seed 1)
8:00: Lakeville North (Seed 5) vs. North Wright County (Seed 4)
Examining the field: After a day of Class A quarterfinal action, it's the Class AA schools turn to shine in the Xcel Energy Center spotlight. First up is the Forest Lake rangers and the second seeded Eden Prairie eagles. The Rangers are back in the tournament for the first time since 2001 and have a tough task ahead against a team with outstanding sophomore talent in Charity Dahlquist and one of the top young defenders in the state, Lauren Boyle. Their quickness will likely be too much for Forest Lake.
In the second game, there will be a lot of green in the X's green seats as the Eagan Wildcats face the third seeded Hill-Murray Pioneers. The Pioneers are tournament-tested, tying Eden Prairie and have a win and a tie against Lakeville North. They also have a lot of scoring depth as 16 players have entered the scoring column this season.
The evening session begins with the Irondale Knights facing the top seeded and defending two time champion Minnetonka Skippers. Who would have thought that Irondale, the number six seed in Section 5AA would play in the state tournament? They'll have to put on their giant killer helmets and come up with a way to end the Skippers championship dominance. Minnetonka has lots of tournament experience in Ms. Hockey finalist Sidney Morin, Laura Bowman and Amy Peterson. History could be in the making as the skippers are on the road to becoming the first school to win three straight state titles.
Wrapping up the quarterfinals will be the fifth seeded Lakeville North Panthers and the fourth seeded North Wright County Riverhawks. The Riverhwks, led by Dani Sibley have a high powered offense and have outstanding goalie depth in Alex Lamere and Dayna Duncan. The Panthers have an outstanding power play, scoring on 38% of their attempts.
Let the tournament begin.
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