Prep report: Proctor/Hermantown seeded second in state girls hockey

Proctor/Hermantown will kick off the state girls hockey tournament on Wednesday in St. Paul after brackets for the four-day event were released by the Minnesota State High School League on Saturday.

The Mirage (19-6-2) were seeded second and will take on unseeded Mankato East at 11 a.m. on Wednesday at Xcel Energy Center.

The Cougars (20-6) won the Section 2 championship without giving up a goal in two games. Their only experience with Section 7 this season came at the Herb Brooks Holiday Classic at the Schwan's Super Rink in Blaine, where they lost 3-2 to Duluth Marshall in overtime in the semifinals on Dec. 27.

The only team that scored more than two goals on Mankato East in a game this season was Luverne, which won Section 3A behind record goalscorer Kamryn Van Batavia, and will play third-seeded Orono in the game immediately following Proctor/Hermantown.

The winners of the afternoon games will play in the first semifinal at 11 a.m. on Friday. Defending champions Warroad claimed the first seed in the tournament and will face Albert Lea in the third quarterfinal on Wednesday, with No. 4 South St. Paul and No. 5 Fergus Falls meeting in the nightcap.

The eighth-seeded Storm held off a furious comeback from Ely during a Section 7A opening-round game at Rukavina Arena in Silver Bay on Saturday afternoon.

North Shore led 3-0 after the first period and 5-0 less than five minutes into the second period, but rather than a rout, the visiting Timberwolves turned it into a one-goal game before the end of the second period, scoring four times in the last 10 minutes of the frame.

Perhaps most surprising of all, there was no scoring in the third period.

Zach Bentler made 21 saves for North Shore, which got two goals and an assist from Jake Stadler. Ayden Althaus and Cole Anderson both had a goal and two helpers.

The Storm (6-17-1) will face top-seeded Hermantown in a 7A quarterfinal on Tuesday night.

Brendan Friday and Pierce Gouin recorded hat tricks as the Hilltoppers dispatched an outmatched Northern Edge squad to advance to the Section 7AA quarterfinals.

Marshall scored nine goals in the second period to trigger running time. Gouin scored three of them and assisted five others en route to a nine-point game. Friday had three assists and both Ethan Lindgren (one goal, four assists) and Kai Melton (two goals, three assists) had five-point games.

Sam Pollard made 20 saves for Marshall (9-17), which will play at Andover on Tuesday night.

Superior's Connor Krueger earned his third trip to the WIAA state wrestling tournament after qualifying from the sectional tournament on Saturday at Eau Claire North.

Krueger was pinned in the 138-pound championship match by Brett Franklin of Marshfield but held on to the second and final state qualifying position since he defeated the third-place wrestler in the semifinals.

That same rule cut short Jason Thomas of Superior's season at 145 pounds after he lost a semifinal to Gavin Finch of Tomah at 145.

In Division 2 at Amery, where three wrestlers per weight class qualify, Northwestern's Tommy Brown won the sectional title at 113 pounds, pinning Deaglan O'Connell of Regis/Altoona at the 4:27 mark.

Ian Smith was also a sectional champion for the Tigers, claiming a 6-2 decision at 195 pounds over Grant Cook of Amery.

Tanner Kaufman made it at 170 pounds with a second-place finish, losing by fall in the title match after 6:23 to Louis Jahnke of Ellsworth but holding off Lucas D'Jock of Luck/Frederic/Grantsburg/Siren in a second-place match.

Smith and Krueger both have multiple state tournament appearances under their belts.

The Rails had plenty of time to enjoy a milestone for Hope Carlson, who scored her 1,000th career point in the Lake Superior Conference contest.

The Rails finish their regular season 18-8.

Despite 30 points from Alexa Snesrud, Cloquet couldn't get the upper hand down the stretch during this battle of Lumberjacks on Saturday in Cloquet.

Bemidji held a 28-24 lead at halftime and preserved it behind four scorers in double figures led by Katelyn Milbrandt's 16 points.

For Cloquet, Ava Carlson added 11, but only one other player had more than one field goal. Cloquet falls to 15-9 overall.

Regan Juenemann drilled six 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 30 points as the Hilltoppers won their third home game in the last eight days.

Ava Meierotto added 12 points, Anna Saari 11 and Chloe Johnson 10 for Marshall (15-9), which scorched its opponent with 58 second-half points.

Jordan Zubich dropped 45 points in an easy MI-B home win, making 11 of 12 field goal attempts and seven of eight from 3-point range.

Hali Savela, who scored her 1,000th point for MIBon Feb. 13, added 17 points and 11 assists for the Rangers (20-3), who host Cromwell-Wright in a potential Section 7A final preview on Monday.

The Greyhounds won a close one at home behind 15 points from Patrick Smith and 12 from Rocco Paulson.

East is 18-5 on the year with no lack of excitement. Saturday's matinee was East's sixth one-possession game with six more decided by single digits.

Northwestern won its 20th game of the year and bolstered its argument for WIAA Division 3 sectional seeding on Saturday with a big home win.

Cole Lahti poured in 29 points, while Grady Gustafson added 15 and Jase Nelson 13.

Northwestern is 20-2 with seeds for the postseason to be announced on Sunday.

This story was updated at 8:25 a.m. Feb. 20 with the correct spelling of Connor Krueger's name. It was originally posted at 12:10 p.m. Feb. 18. The News Tribune Regrets the error.