Wednesday’s games:
No. 2 Orono 4, Willmar 1
No. 3 Dodge County 4, No. 5 Fergus Falls 0
No. 1 Holy Angels (21-3-3) vs. Luverne (17-10), 6 p.m.
No. 4 Warroad (19-8) vs. No. 5 Proctor/Hermantown (18-8-2), 8 p.m.
Note: Only the top five teams were seeded.
3:20 p.m.
Dodge County sinks Fergus Falls
In its state tournament debut, No. 3 seed Dodge County used two second-period goals to grab a lead and eventually defeated Fergus Falls 4-0 in the second Class 1A quarterfinal game Wednesday afternoon at Xcel Energy Center.
Senior forward McKenna LaFleur ended a scoreless tie nearly six minutes into the second period, capitalizing off a Fergus Falls turnover behind its own net. The Otters cleared the puck out front, landing it on the stick of LaFleur, who quickly scored her 14th goal of the season.
In the second period, the Wildcats (22-4-0) scored on a 2-on-1 opportunity from neutral ice. Junior Nora Carstensen dished the puck to freshman Maysie Koch, who finished the play with a wrist shot that doubled the lead.
Carstensen, Dodge County’s leading scorer, pushed the lead to three goals early in the third period. She took the puck into the zone from center ice and fired a shot that hit a Fergus Falls defender on the way to the net. Later on a power play, she scored her 33rd goal of the season and gave the Wildcats a 4-0 lead.
Senior goaltender Ana Jyrkas made 26 saves for Fergus Falls (15-12-1).
Game 2′s three stars
Nora Carstensen, Dodge County junior forward: Scored her 32nd and 33rd goals in the third period, plus assisted on the team’s second goal of the game.
McKenna LaFleur, Dodge County senior forward: Opened the scoring with a right-place, right-time goal in the second period — the first goal in Dodge County girls hockey state tournament history.
Maysie Koch, Dodge County freshman forward: A two-point game, finished a 2-on-1 opportunity that gave the Wildcats a 2-0 lead in the second period.
Game 2 numbers
2: Schools that make up the Dodge County girls hockey team: Kasson-Mantorville and Byron.
9: Saves for Dodge County junior goaltender Ida Huber, resulting in the 10th shutout victory of the season.
12: Games with at least three points for Nora Carstensen, Dodge County junior forward who had a three-point game Wednesday.
12:50 p.m.
Orono tops Willmar in opener
Orono, the No. 2 seed in Class 1A and last year’s state runner-up, built a two-goal lead in the first period on the way to a 4-1 victory over unseeded Willmar in the first game of the day. The Spartans (21-6-1) took a 1-0 lead midway through the first period when sophomore Maddy Kimbrel took the puck in from the red line and popped a shot high, glove side for her team-leading 26th goal of the season. In the final 30 seconds of the period, junior Zoe Lopez forced a turnover in the high slot of Willmar’s zone, skated to the circle and scored her 24th goal of the season to double her team’s lead. Orono added an empty-netter in the final minute of the game. Willmar fell to (20-8-0).
Game 1′s three stars
Anika Fortin, Orono junior forward: Scored a goal and an assist, gave her team a 3-0 lead.
Zoe Lopez, Orono junior forward: Put Orono up 2-0 right before the first intermission, had a game-high six shots on goal.
Erin Eilers, Willmar junior goaltender: Made 35 saves, her fifth game this season with more than 30 saves.
Game 1 numbers
0: Power-play goals for Willmar in three opportunities, and zero power-play chances for Orono.
4: Consecutive games with a goal for Orono’s leading scorer, Zoe Lopez.
16: Goals this season for Willmar’s Lauren Eilers, leading her team.
Here are links to tournament information:
* Watch today’s games for free on NSPN.TV. Here’s the schedule and livestream links. Semifinals and finals will be on Ch. 45.
* Live statistics for the game in progress.
* Tournament brackets: Class 2A | Class 1A. Buy tickets here.
* Download and print the tournament program
* Star Tribune high school sports page.
