Warroad seeks 4th straight title
by Bryan Zollman, Let’s Play Hockey
If three in a row is a 3-peat, what is four in a row?
A dynasty.
Warroad’s Lindsey Lorenson’s goal in the third overtime sent the Warriors to their fourth straight state championship game and gave them their 11th straight state tournament win.
The last time a team named Warroad didn’t win state was during the COVID pandemic when Proctor/Hermantown defeated Gentry Academy in 2021. Ironically, before Proctor/Hermantown’s win, Breck had won three straight. Which means this next game could make history for the Lady Warriors.
Orono dominated the Warriors for the better part of half of regulation and much of overtime, but Warroad goalie Payton Rolli was outstanding, not just in stopping pucks, but not giving up rebounds for second chances.
Orono’s Zoe Lopez and Maddy Kimbrel tested Rolli with 26 shots between them, an astounding total for two players. Lopez beat her early with a short-side shelfer, but after that Rolli was a roadblock.
Orono Head Coach Paul Antonenko, a former goalie, tipped his cap to Rolli.
“You have to give credit where credit is due,” he said. “If you make 59 saves or whatever it was, that’s pretty impressive.”
Rolli finished with 61 saves.
Antonenko said his message to his players was to continue to play their game and get pucks on net and look for rebounds. But Rossi wasn’t giving up much.
Kimbrel, Lopez and Macy Rasmussen were standouts for Orono, driving many chances, but Rossi and Warroad’s ability to defend the front of the net was key to their win.
“They were strong in the defensive zone,” said Antonenko.
Lopez got the scoring going in the first on a power play when a Warroad defender lost their stick. Lopez walked in on Rolli and beat her on the short side high for her 35th goal of the year.
Warroad answered early in the second when Kaiya Sandy scored off a nice feed form Katy Comstock to tie the contest 1-1.
The teams would go scoreless the rest of the way. During that time, the ice was tilted in Orono’s favor, but Rolli stayed strong. She was like the flipper in a tilted pinball game that kept the puck alive and gave her team a chance to score on the other end.
Which set the stage for Lorenson. Entering the game she had scored just five goals. But she found the puck on her stick on a one-on-two and beat the defenseman and then beat the goalie with a high wrister to give the Warriors a chance at…a dynasty?
Head Coach David Marvin said the team doesn’t talk about titles during the season.
But here they are again.
“It’s such a privilege to play in the state tournament,” he said. “We are here and we have another opportunity. We have a chance to do somethings special. We will do our best to get ready.”
At the time of the interview, Marvin wasn’t sure who his team would face.
“I know we will face a really good team whoever its and have our hands full again,” he said.
Dodge County 3, Academy of Holy Angels 1
The Warriors will be facing Dodge County once again thanks to the Wildcats 4-1 win over Academy of Holy Angels.
The Wildcats scored three second-period goals to catapult themselves back into the title game and a chance to bring home not just their first state title, but a win for southern Minnesota girls hockey.
After a scoreless period, Hamline University recruit Hannah Peterson put the Wildcats on the board with her 12th goal of the season. Three minutes later Zoe Heimer scored her 11th for a 2-0 and then leading scorer Nora Carstensen scored her team-leading 20th goal for a 3-0 cushion.
That was more than enough for senior goaltender and Jori Jones finalist Ida Huber who stopped 20 of 21 shots.
Taylor Lesnar scored for AHA, her 22nd. Maysie Koch added a late goal for the Wildcats to seal the win. It as Koch’s 17th on the season. She is one if seven players to have more than 10 goals on the team, a testament to their depth.
The win pits the Wildcats back into familiar territory. They will take on the Warroad Warriors tomorrow in search of their first title.
Head Coach Jeremy Gunderson said last season his players were a bit nervous. But apparently they have turned to karaoke in the locker room to keep things loose.
“Last year we over-gripped our sticks in the championship game and I think we were the same in that first game,” he said about this year’s state quarterfinal. “A lot of times its finding that happy balance of how they enjoy themselves and to be loose and goofy because good things will happen.”
