Prep report: Mirage go into postseason on winning note

Feb. 4—Proctor/Hermantown scored five unanswered goals to go into section tournament play on a winning note in a 5-1 takedown of Mound Westonka/Southwest Christian on Saturday, Feb. 4 at David M. Thaler Sports Center in Mound, Minnesota.

The WhiteHawks scored first at 5:14 of the second period, but Hailey Jussila's game-tying shorthanded goal for the Mirage triggered a three-goal burst over the last two minutes of the frame as Reese Heitzman and Hannah Graves made it 3-1 after two periods.

The Mirage punished their hosts for giving them a 5-on-3 situation, scoring twice on the advantage from Heitzman and Izy Fairchild, who recorded her 100th high school point in the game.

Neelah McLeod made 29 saves for Proctor/Hermantown. The Mirage (17-6-2) are likely to have a bye into the semifinals of the Section 7A tournament, which begins on Tuesday with three quarterfinals at the home rinks of the second, third and fourth seeds. Section semifinals are Feb. 11 in Cloquet with the section final on Feb. 15, also in Cloquet.

Ella Brisbois made 11 saves for her sixth shutout of the season as the Northern Stars won their rescheduled regular season finale on the road.

Grace Karakas (two goals, two assists) had a hand in all four Duluth tallies, while Bailey Coole and Gracyn Schipper finished with a goal and assist apiece.

The Northern Stars earned their first home playoff game since 2014 in Section 7AA brackets released on Saturday. Duluth will play Elk River/Zimmerman at the Heritage Center on Thursday night. The teams tied in Duluth last Thursday night.

Ilsa Lindaman buried four more goals to end the regular season with a total of 40 as the Hilltoppers dominated proceedings at Ralph Engelstad Arena.

It was Lindaman's sixth hat trick of the year and third game of four or more goals. She added two assists to match her season high for points in a contest. Sarah Stauber scored twice and Nina Thorson posted three assists for Marshall, which finishes the regular season 18-6-1 ahead of a home 7A quarterfinal on Tuesday night.

Ray Anderson made 16 saves.

CEC goaltender Araya Kiminski notched her 1,500th career save as the Lumberjacks tied with Bemidji in Bemidji on Saturday afternoon.CEC finishes the regular season 8-12-5, having played in 10 overtime games.

Gino Bertgliot's goal early in the third period proved to be a game-winner for the Lumberjacks at Northwoods Credit Union Arena.

Drew Pajunen put Champlin Park in the lead early in the second period, though Bobby Thornton scored a power play goal at 8:27.

Caden Kubis made 40 saves for CEC to help them overcome a 41-23 shot disadvantage.

The Hawks dominated play at Hermantown Arena, scoring as many goals as they allowed shots.

Dallas Vieau scored twice and added an assist for Hermantown (18-2-1), while George Peterson had a four-point (one goal, three assists) game and Joshua Kauppinen had a goal and two assists.

Garron Opsahl made seven saves for the shutout.

Tanner Ross scored 16 seconds into the third period to break a 2-2 tie in the Rails' favor at Princeton First Bank & Trust Ice Arena.

It was Ross's second goal of the game after he'd scored shorthanded to make it 1-1 with 3:48 remaining in the first period. He assisted on Austin Bryant's goal that tied it at 2 with 16 seconds left in the second frame.

A.J. Reyelts made 29 saves for the Rails (11-10).

Andy Larson recorded his fifth hat trick of the season as the Hunters held on for a victory at the Runestone Community Center.

Kaden Postal had the other two goals for Denfeld (12-10-1).

The Thunderhawks couldn't get any of 21 shots on goal into the net, as the Trojans handed them their third consecutive loss.

Rhys Wallin had two goals and an assist for Wayzata, ranked third in the state in Class AA.

Teddy McCabe's goal for the Sabres midway through the third period turned out to be the only one at Bernick's Pepsi Arena in Sartell on Saturday. Rock Ridge was shut out and fell to 12-7-1 despite a 19-18 shot advantage.

Northwestern finished tied for third and Superior took seventh in an 11-team field at the Heart O'North Conference tournament on Saturday, Feb. 4 in Hayward.

St. Croix Falls was the winner by a wide margin with 269 1/2 points, though places two through five were decided by 14 1/2 points.

Connor Kreuger of Superior won a decision over Kaden Clark of St. Croix Falls, 5-2, for the top spot at 138 pounds. Kruger was named the Heart O'North Conference Wrestler of the Year after the meet.

The Tigers' Tanner Kaufman won the conference title at 182 pounds by pinning Riley Johnson of Chetek-Weyerhauser/Prairie Farm in 54 seconds. Northwestern's Tommy Brown reached the 113-pound final but was compelled to medically forfeit.

Superior's Jason Thomas lost by fall at 1:58 to St. Croix Falls' Griffin Marko in the 145 finals.

Duluth was best in the seven-team field at the Hibbing Invitational on Saturday, scoring 523 points to finish well ahead of runner-up Simley (362) and Bloomington Jefferson (361).

Duluth's Grant Wodny came within a tenth of a second of setting a pool record in the 200-yard freestyle, though he still dominated the event in 1 minute, 45.22 seconds. Wodny also won the 500 free by a wide margin in 4:54.74.

The day's other double winner was Gunnar George of Rock Ridge, who claimed his victories in back-to-back events. The junior won the 50-yard freestyle "splash and dash" in 22.42 seconds, then took the 100-yard butterfly by more than three seconds in 53.25.

The Thunderhawks held the host Warriors to 17 points in the first half and kept the game under control the rest of the way as their win streak reached 19 games.

Taryn Hamling led the way with 24 points, while Jessika Lofstrom and Braya LaPlant had 10 points apiece.

The Hilltoppers claimed a road win behind five 3-pointers from Anna Saari, who finished with a team-high 17 points. Regan Juenemann scored 13 and Ava Meierotto 12 for Marshall, now 12-7 overall and winners of four straight.

Danika Thompson had a big day for the Mariners, scoring 32 points. Silver Bay held its opponent to just nine points in the second half to break the game wide open.

Jobe Juenemann's huge day helped the Greyhounds reinforce their case for a high seed in the Section 7AAAA tournament in a home win over the Cardinals.

Juenemann racked up 32 points as the Greyhounds (14-4) made it four wins in a row.

Dillon Bement kicked in 16 points and Rocco Paulson 12 for East, which led 37-28 at the half.

Brooks Johnson scored 29 points for Marshall, but Pillager put four players in double figures to claim the victory.