South, Farmington seeded behind Northfield in 1AA
South Suburban Conference champion Lakeville North is the No. 1 seed in the Section 3AA girls hockey playoffs that begin Wednesday night.
The Panthers (20-3-1), who won the 2023 Section 1AA championship before being assigned to Section 3AA this season, will play host to No. 8 seed Eagan in a quarterfinal game at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Ames Arena. Lakeville North, ranked seventh in Class AA, won two regular-season games against Eagan, 6-0 and 7-1.
Other Section 3AA quarterfinal games Wednesday include defending champion Rosemount, the fourth seed, at home against Hastings. Rosemount is 11-9-5 overall while Hastings is 13-12. The winner will play the Lakeville North-Eagan winner in the semifinals on Saturday at the home of the higher-seeded team.
No. 3 seed Apple Valley plays sixth-seeded Eastview in a quarterfinal game at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Apple Valley Sports Arena. Apple Valley (14-9-2) split two regular-season games against Eastview (12-12-1), losing 2-1 on Nov. 30 and winning 7-2 on Jan. 13.
The Apple Valley-Eastview winner will play No. 2 seed Cretin-Derham Hall or No. 7 seed Park of Cottage Grove in the semifinals on Saturday. If Cretin-Derham Hall advances it would host the semifinal game, otherwise the Apple Valley-Eastview winner would be home against Park.
The Section 3AA championship game will be 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 14, at Veterans Memorial Community Center in Inver Grove Heights, with the winner advancing to the Class AA state tournament beginning Feb. 22 at Xcel Energy Center.
Section 1AA
No. 5-ranked Northfield is the No. 1 seed in the Section 1AA playoffs, with South Suburban Conference members Lakeville South and Farmington seeded second and third.
All three schools have qualified for state within the last six years, and it would be a surprise if this year’s champion doesn’t come from that group. Northfield won the Section 1AA title in 2022. Farmington won the section four times in five years from 2017 through 2021. Lakeville South last played at state in 2018.
Lakeville South (19-3-3), ranked 10th in Class AA, plays Rochester Century/John Marshall (8-16) in the quarterfinals at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Hasse Arena. Farmington (16-8-1) is home against Rochester Mayo (10-11-2) on Wednesday at Schmitz-Maki Arena. The winners meet in the semifinals Saturday at the home of the higher seed.
In the other half of the bracket, Northfield (24-1) is home against Austin in a quarterfinal game Wednesday and Owatonna travels to Mankato East. The Section 1AA championship game is 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 15, at Four Seasons Arena in Owatonna.
Section 6AA
The Metro-South Phoenix, a co-op team that includes seven players from Burnsville High School, are the sixth seed in the Section 6AA playoffs. The Phoenix (4-20-1) play third-seeded Wayzata (6-17-2) in a quarterfinal game at 5 p.m. Saturday at Plymourh Ice Center. The winner plays No. 2 seed Edina or No. 7 seed Hopkins/St. Louis Park in the semifinals at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 14, at Parade Ice Arena in Minneapolis. The section championship game is 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 16, also at Parade.
Benilde-St. Margaret’s, ranked sixth in Class AA, received the No. 1 seed in Section 6 and has a first-round bye. Edina is third in the Let’s Play Hockey state rankings.
Most Popular
Comments / 0