Double OT win, 15-goal game highlight Minnesota girls hockey tournament

ST. PAUL — Reigning Class A champion Warroad and last year's runner-up Proctor/Hermantown remain on a collision course after victories Wednesday at the Minnesota Class A girls high school hockey tournament.

Orono took care of Luverne while South St. Paul and Fergus Falls played the game of the day, going scoreless until the Packers scored in double overtime to end the night.

Proctor/Hermantown coach Emma Stauber said her Mirage team is battle tested, and after three straight trips to the Class A girls state hockey tournament, they should be.

Reese Heitzman scored two goals as second-seeded Proctor/Hermantown built a three-goal lead and then held on for a 4-3 victory over unseeded Mankato East in the tournament opener.

Mankato East (20-7) had Jessica Eykyn and Brielle Newton scoring just 29 seconds apart to make it 3-2 early in the third. Heitzman made it 4-2 about two minutes later and East's McKenzie Keller scored midway through the period.

The Mirage (20-6-2), state champions in 2021 and runner-up last year, advance to the state semifinals for the third-straight year. They will play third-seeded Orono (21-3-4) at 11 a.m. Friday at Xcel Energy Center.

Orono showed complete and total dominance in its afternoon quarterfinal matchup against Luverne, coming away with a 6-0 victory.

Maddy Kimbrel and Zoe Lopez each scored two goals. Orono limited Luverne to just 13 shots on net, all stopped by Celia Dahl.

"All three of our lines played really well. Celia Dahl in net, as always, was solid for us and had a great game," said Orono head coach Larry Olimb, who's in his first season with the team. "I was really proud of the effort. The girls played hard for each other and moved the puck well. A nice win against a very good Luverne team."

Jason Wachter / The Rink Live

Top-seeded Warroad broke the girls state tournament record for most goals in a game and most combined goals between two teams in a 15-1 rout over Albert Lea. Both previous records, 13 goals by one team and 14 combined, were set by the Warriors in their 13-1 quarterfinal win over Detroit Lakes in 2012.

Warroad’s Rylee Bartz, a senior transfer who played for Fargo North/South last season, took just over 12 minutes to get her first hat trick at the Minnesota state tournament and finished the game with five goals and two assists.

The loudest cheer of the night came after Albert Lea captain Shelby Evans tapped a rebound past Warroad goalie Kate Stephens during a 5-on-3 power play in the second period to get the Tigers on the board.

South St. Paul’s Sarah Wincentsen scored in the second overtime to break a scoreless game against Fergus Falls that needed two overtimes to decide it.

Ana Jyrkas had 40 saves for Fergus Falls, which made its third tournament appearance against the storied Packers program.

The late-night 1-0 win by the Packers puts the same teams and matchups into the semifinals as the 2022 state tournament.