Jets get on a run to reach 15th state adapted floor hockey tournament

Freshman Betsy Malecha scores eight goals to pace South Suburban in two state tourney games

The South Suburban Jets, a cooperative team with students from Bloomington Kennedy, Bloomington Jefferson, Richfield, Edina and Eden Prairie High Schools made a return appearance at the state-adapted floor hockey tournament March 8-9 played at Coon Rapids.

Head coach Aaron Walton said the team rallied as the season moved along to qualify for state with only four returning players from last season including senior goalie Rachel Fyler and freshman center Betsy Malecha. Fyler was a consistently strong presence between the pipes as a three-year starter. Malecha was the top goal scorer who Walton describes as someone, “with a competitive motor that never quits.” She led the team with eight goals in the state tournament.

The Jets started two underclassmen on defense in freshman Josh Ruz and eighth-grader Thomas Fyler. “They were very strong for their age and got better each game,” Walton said of the duo.

Eighth-grader Easton Anderson was an important forward for the Jets. “Easton is a great competitor with a great shot and a good passer,” Walton said. “The same goes for freshman Jordan Cavness who started at the other wing. As you can see we are extremely young but got better and better each week. The rest of the players on the team provided great depth for our team when they gave the starters a break.”

Senior forwards include James Saeny and Helen Olson and junior defenseman Cassidy Fyler were the veterans on the team.

The Jets had six eighth or ninth graders on the roster including Malecha and Cavness along with Jemarie Wright as ninth graders. Eighth graders include Molly Gilbert, Thomas Fyler and Anderson as the youngsters on the roster.

After opening the season with a 10-6 win over South Washington on Jan. 11, the Jets went through a dry spell dropping five consecutive games against some of the top programs in the state before turning on the proverbial jets to make a successful playoff run winning the final three games to advance to state starting with a 9-0 shutout of Owatonna on Feb. 8 before sweeping Shakopee/Prior Lake/Chaska/Chanhassen 10-4 on Feb. 13 and a Feb. 22 playoff game. The wins set up a final playoff game at No. 3 seed North/Tartan on Feb. 26 with the Jets pulling off an 8-4 win on the road.

The Jets, competing in the cognitively impaired Division, made their 15th trip to state since 1994 after the 2020 and 2021 tournaments were canceled due to the pandemic.

At state, the teal and black ran into two very strong teams losing the opener to eventual state runner-up New Prague 9-2 in the quarterfinal on March 8. On Saturday, Maple Grove came from behind to top the Jets in a 13-10 thriller. Maple Grove went on to win the bracket over Mankato 10-9.

The Burnsville/Farmington/Lakeville Blazin’ Cats beat New Prague 13-3 in the championship game.

Flyers at state

South Suburban Flyers joined their Jets counterparts at state with the Flyers competing in the physically impaired Division.

The Flyers were unlucky in their draw, opening with perennial powerhouse Robbinsdale Robbins in the state quarterfinal losing 12-2. The Robbins went on to reach the state championship game before losing to Dakota United 5-1.

South Suburban dropped to the consolation bracket where Maple Grove topped the Flyers 12-3 on Saturday morning before winning the consolation title with a 7-1 win over Minneapolis South.

Follow Jason Olson on Twitter @Jason0lson or @SunSportsJason.

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(Submitted photo)

South Suburban Jets teammates pose for a team photo after topping North St. Paul/Tartan 8-4 to qualify for the state tournament hosted by Coon Rapids High School March 8-9. The Jets include seniors James Saeny and Rachel Fyler; junior Cassidy Fyler; ninth graders Jordan Cavness, Betsy Malecha and Jemarie Wright and eighth graders Molly Gilbert, Thomas Fyler and Easton Anderson.