Prowlers fall to top-seeded Warroad

by Scott DCamp Sports Editor The Thief River Falls girls hockey team saw its season come to an end Saturday with a 7-1 loss to top-seeded Warroad in the semifinal round of the Section 8A Tournament at the Crookston Sports Center. This is the third consecutive season that ended in a semifinal loss for the Prowlers. The Prowlers’ season ended with a 9-1 loss to the Warriors in 2022 and a 5-0 loss to the Crookston Pirates in 2023, before this year’s 7-1 loss to the Warriors. The Warriors wasted little time getting their offense going Saturday, with two goals in the first two minutes and 10 seconds. Vivienne Marcowka scored the game’s first goal at 1:44 of the first period. Cijae McLaughlin scored 26 seconds later to make it 2-0 Warriors. Kaiya Sandy made it 3-0 in favor off the two-time defending state champions. The Warriors added three more goals in the second period as Jaylie French, Madilyn Skogman, and French again, would find the net to make it 6-0. The Prowlers got on the board on an unassisted goal by Kali Knutson with 2:33 remaining in the second period. French completed the hat trick with 5:05 left in the game to conclude the scoring for the Warriors. Two days before falling to the Warriors, the Prowlers advanced to the Section 8A semifinals for the 14th consecutive year with a 4-0 win over Detroit Lakes. The Lakers battled defensively, but the Prowlers were persistent offensively with a 36-11 edge in shots on goal. Quinnlyn Kenfield put the Prowlers on the board with a power play goal at the 12:20 mark of the first period. The Prowler lead was still 1-0 until Parker Olsonawski and Lila Dalager scored goals 10 seconds apart late in the second period. Olsonawski scored with 2:15 remaining and Dalager scored 10 seconds later with 2:05 left in the second. Knutson’s second goal of the playoffs, coming at the 5:58 mark of the third period, put the Prowlers up 4-0 and it effectively put the game out of reach. Recording assists against the Lakers were Brynn Hennen on the first period power play goal by Kenfield; Miley Cota on the goal by Olsonawski; Olsonawski on the goal by Dalager; and Dalager and Hennen on the goal by Knutson. McKenna Carr got the quarterfinal start in the net and she denied all 11 Laker shots on goal to pick up her third win and second shutout of the season. Scoring 1 2 3 T Detroit Lakes 0 0 0 0 Thief River Falls 1 2 1 4 First period – TRF, Quinnlyn Kenfield (Brynn Hennen) (PP) 12:20; Second period – TRF, Parker Olsonawski (Miley Cota) 14:45; TRF, Lila Dalager (Parker Olsonawski, Miley Cota) 14:55 Third period – TRF, Kali Knutson (Lila Dalager, Brynn Hennen) 5:58 Shots - DL 4-3-4 - 11; TRF 13-13-10 - 36. Power plays - DL 0-for-3; TRF 1-for-4. Penalties - DL 4 (8 minutes); TRF 3 (6 minutes). Goalie saves - TRF, McKenna Carr 11; DL, Talyn Anderson 32. Scoring 1 2 3 T Thief River Falls 0 1 0 1 Warroad 3 3 1 7 First period – W, Vivienne Marcowka (Reagan Haley) 1:44; W, Cijae McLaughlin (Mikalya Curtis) 2:10; W, Kaiya Sandy (Kate Johnson) 16:28 Second period – W, Jaylie French (Karlee Kalbrenner) 4:33; W, Maddie Skogman (Taylor Reese, Sandy) 8:52; W, Marcowka (Sophie Johnson, Kalbrenner) `12:11; TRF, Kali Knutson 14:27 Third period – W, French (Katy Comstock, Reese) 11:55 Shots - TRF 3-3-3 - 9; Warroad 12-22-22 - 56. Power plays - TRF 0-for-4; Warroad 1-for-3. Penalties - TRF 3 (6 minutes); Warroad 4 (8 minutes). Goalie saves - TRF, McKenna Carr 25, Faith Hartmann 24; Warroad, Payton Rolli 8. Section 8A Playoffs • Seeds - 1. Warroad; 2. Crookston; 3.East Grand Forks; 4. Thief River Falls; 5. Detroit Lakes; 6. International Falls. • Quarterfinals, Thursday, Feb. 8 - East Grand Forks 11, International Falls 0; Thief River Falls 4, Detroit Lakes 0. • Semifinals, Saturday, Feb. 10, at Crookston - Warroad 7, Thief River Falls 1; Crookston 3, East Grand Forks 0. • Championship, Thursday, Feb. 15, 7 p.m., at Crookston - Warroad vs. Crookston.