GIRLS: Quarterly Section Check-In: Section Preview

3rd quarter section check-in.  Regular season is done and we are rolling into sections.  We list our PRESEASON picks, break down the actual seeds, give our takes on who is making state, and sprinkle in a take or four.

Section 1

1. Our PRESEASON top 4:

   1. Lakeville South

   2. Rochester Century

   3. Lakeville North

   4. Farmington

2. Seeds

   1. Lakeville South (13-0)

   2. Farmington (7-6)

   3. Lakeville North (7-6)

   4. Owatonna (10-3)

   5. New Prague (7-6)

   6. Rochester Century (7-6)

   7. Rochester Mayo (7-6)

   8. Mankato (5-8)

   9. Northfield (2-11)

   10. Rochester JM/Lourdes (1-12)

3. Final Four - Projected:

   1 - Lakeville South (13-0)

   2 - Farmington (7-6)

   3 - Lakeville North (7-6)

   4 - Owatonna (10-3)

4. Section Champ - Projected: Lakeville South

5. Thoughts:

   Its a shame that South doesn’t get a tougher road to state. Not fair for those in sections 2-6, but MSHSL doesn’t care, so why should we? Good for South!

   Owatonna is out pacing our preseason projections of them - they earned the 4 seed (North beat them 15-7 to end the year).

   Interesting records going down this section, but none of its going to matter when you have South in your section.

   Thanks for nothing there Century. We went out on a lib for you in the preseason and this is how you return the favor? OOOOOFF.

Section 2

1. Our PRESEASON top 4:

   1. Chanhassen

   2. Minnetonka

   3. Eden Prairie

   4. Southwest Christian

2. Seeds

   1. Chanhassen (10-3)

   2. Eden Prairie (8-4)

   3. Minnetonka (10-3)

   4. Orono (7-5)

   5. Chaska (5-8)

   6. Hutchinson (9-4)

   7. Southwest Christian/Jordan (12-1)

   8. Delano/Rockford (6-6)

   9. Shakopee (3-10)

   10. Holy Family (2-11)

   11. Mound Westonka (3-10)

   12. Waconia (0-13)

3. Final 4 - Projected:

   1 - Chanhassen (10-3)

   2 - Eden Prairie (8-4)

   3 - Minnetonka (10-3)

   4 - Orono (7-5)

4. Section Champ - Projected: Eden Prairie

5. Thoughts:

   EP is looking really good to close out the season…but Chan has also righted their ship. Cannot wait for Minnetonka to win the section now!

   Regardless, much tighter competition that we projected - we like that!

   Chaska ended the season with 5 straight losses, including a 20-7 loss to Orono…5 seed feels a little high when you have Hutch and SWC at 6 and 7…and then they get Waconia first. Orono should make quick work out of them, unless they are saving Josie Lakosky and Kennedy Sanders for the playoffs.

   Hope that Hutch or SWC can make a little noise for the little guys. No complaints with Hutch getting the nod over SWC, with the H2H win…. SWC is matching up against EP and Hutch against Minnetonka…feels like at least one of them should have been in the 5 slot over Chaska. Our love for SWC will never end though!

Section 3

1. Our PRESEASON top 4:

   1. Park of Cottage Grove

   2. Woodbury

   3. Cretin-Derham Hall

   4. Simley

2. Seeds

   1. Park (12-1)

   2. CDH (8-5)

   3. East Ridge (9-4)

   4. Woodbury (8-5)

   5. Simley (6-7)

   6. St. Croix Prep (9-4)

   7. Visitation (7-5)

   8. Hastings (4-7)

   9. St. Paul/Two Rivers (3-10)

   10. St. Paul Academy (2-10)

3. Final 4 - Projected:

   1 - Park (12-1)

   2 - CDH (8-5)

   3 - East Ridge (9-4)

   4 - Woodbury (8-5)

4. Section Champ - Projected: Park

5. Thoughts:

   Park has been hot since their surprising loss to Woodbury and is the class of the section.

   CDH looked like gangbusters, but has limped across the line.

   Seeds 2-6 are basically a coin flip - excited to watch it play out.

   We really wanted to pull the trigger on a Simley over Woodbury first round match up…but Simley really didn’t beat anyone they shouldn’t have, whereas Woodbury beat Park, had a tight one against Stillwater, and beat Simley.

   We missed things on East Ridge a little. Hand up. However, this entire section was wild form the start, so…yeah…we still should have done better.

Section 4

1. Our PRESEASON top 4:

   1. Stillwater

   2. Gentry Academy

   3. Mahtomedi

   4. Hill-Murray

2. Seeds:

   1. Stillwater (10-3)

   2. White Bear Lake (10-3)

   3. Gentry Academy (12-0)

   4. Hill-Murray (8-5)

   5. Mahotmedi (8-5)

   6. Totino-Grace (5-8)

   7. Roseville (2-11)

   8. Ironsdale (5-7)

   9. Mounds View (2-11)

   10. Tartan (2-9)

   11. Columbia Heights (2-10)

3. Final 4 - Projected:

   1 - Stillwater (10-3)

   2 - White Bear Lake (10-3)

   3 - Gentry Academy (12-0)

   4 - Hill-Murray (8-5)

4. Section Champ - Projected: Stillwater

5. Thoughts:

   Well kids, if you’re going to give DTA a hard time about what they say about Gentry, you better go talk to the section 4 coaches first. We’ve (the source) had them consistently 10-12 in the power rankings and 2nd in the section. We might be clueless, but you can’t say we disrespect the charter of all charter schools.

   Stillwater might be tightening the screws now after the game against South. Quality win vs Edina to end the season - life is set for the Ponies to make a trip back home for state.

   Speaking of back home for state…what about White Bear Lake? Hand up - we whiffed on them in the preseason - that’s one us. They are more than capable of rattling some cages.

   Maht comes in at 5 seed…and then the world falls off a cliff for the section.

Section 5

1. Our PRESEASON top 4:

   1. Benilde St. Margaret’s

   2. Maple Grove

   3. Blake School of Excellance

   4. Robbinsdale Armstrong

2. Seeds:

   1. Maple Grove (13-0)

   2. Benilde St. Margaret’s (11-2)

   3. Blake (8-5)

   4. Wayzata (6-7)

   5. Hopkins (7-6)

   6. Armstrong (7-6)

   7. Breck (4-8)

   8. Rogers (7-6)

   9. St. Louis Park (4-9)

   10. Osseo/Park Center (1-12)

3. Final 4 - Projected:

   1 - Maple Grove (13-0)

   2 - Benilde St. Margaret’s (11-2)

   3 - Blake (8-5)

   5 - Hopkins (7-6)

4. Section Champ - Projected: BSM

5. Thoughts:

   Is MG for real? We will see. They were, in our opinion, rightfully, awarded the #1 seed in the section. Now is the time to prove it in the big time with everyone looking up at them.

   BSM hasn’t been as sharp as they could be closing out the year, but we think they still have just a little too much firepower left for MG.

   Blake should get past Armstrong, but we think that’s going to the end of the line for them.

   We like Hop to continue their run and beat Wayzata, again, to make the final 4. Lots of disrespect for their win over Wayzata in the seedings…don’t like that.

Section 6

1. Our PRESEASON top 4:

   1. Prior Lake

   2. Edina

   3. Rosemount

   4. Bloomington Jefferson

2. Seeds

   1. Prior Lake (11-1)

   2. Edina (11-2)

   3. Rosemount (7-6)

   4. Bloomington Jefferson (9-4)

   5. Eastview/Eagan (6-7)

   6. Holy Angels (7-5)

   7. Bloomington Kennedy (5-8)

   8. Apple Valley/Burnsville (3-10)

   9. Minneapolis (1-9)

3. Final 4 - Projected:

   1 - Prior Lake (11-1)

   2 - Edina (11-2)

   3 - Rosemount (7-6)

   4 - Bloomington Jefferson (9-4)

4. Section Champ - Projected: Prior Lake

5. Thoughts:

   PL vs Edina should be a state semi-final game, but hey…that has only been the case since the 2019 season. Why would the MSHSL want to fix something so obvious?

   Good on Holy Angels getting the 6 seed! Really interested in how the Jefferson/Eastview game end up - that’s an interesting. match up.

   Section otherwise fell pretty chalk. We feel good about ourselves here, in our preseason pics,

Section 7

1. Our PRESEASON top 4:

   1. Centennial

   2. Andover

   3. Forest Lake

   4. Champlin Park

2. Seeds

   1. Champlin Park (12-2)

   2. Andover (10-3)

   3. Centennial (9-3)

   4. Chisago Lakes (14-0)

   5. Forest Lake (3-10)

   6. Grand Rapids/Greenway (10-3)

   7. Spring Lake Park (4-9)

   8. Blaine (3-10)

   9. Anoka (3-10)

   10. Duluth (7-7)

   11. Hermantown/Proctor (4-9)

   12. Coon Rapids (0-13)

3. Final 4 - Projected:

   1 - Champlin Park (12-2)

   2 - Andover (10-3)

   4 - Chisago Lakes (14-0)

   6 - Grand Rapids/Greenway

4. Section Champ - Projected: Champlin Park

5. Thoughts:

   Props to CP for thumbing their nose at the MSHSL and playing 14 games. Screw them and their stupid 13 game rule! Good for you CP!

   Centennial and Andover semifinal game will be a tight one, but this is CP’s year.

   Can we get this year’s cinderella undefeated team (Chisago Lakes) to make some noise in sections? Starting with the 4 seed is a helluva way to start!

   Lets talk for a second about Forest Lake and Grand Rapids/Greenway. FL won their head to head by a goal…in the first game of the season. Since then, while the schedules may be different, the results have been literal opposites. We’re calling this a snub of GR/G - a 1 goal game on April 13th should not carry more weight than having 7 more wins. There was probably snow on the field in Forest Lake for that game…and GR/G probably hadn’t been outside since October…for anything other than snowmobiling and ice fishing. We’re rooting for you GR/G! You should have beaten Moorhead Thursday night…

   Shout out to our friends on the pod…we think they were looking at this draft and we only had our PRRSEASON picks there at the time, so we could flame ourselves. It was a draft then too, in our defense…. From our text message to the P-MACs, “Section 7 = Champlin Park’s year”

Section 8

1. Our PRESEASON top 4:

   1. Buffalo

   2. Elk River/Zimmerman

   3. St. Michael Albertville

   4. Moorhead

2. Seeds - Actual

   1. Elk River/Zimmerman (10-3)

   2. STMA (8-5)

   3. Moorhead (7-6)

   4. Buffalo (7-6)

   5. Monticello (7-6)

   6. St. Cloud (10-3)

   7. Brainerd (6-7)

   8. Big Lake (5-8)

   9. Becker (3-9)

   10. Satrell/Sauk Rapids (1-11)

   11. Rocori (1-12)

3. Final 4 - Projected:

   1 - Elk River/Zimmerman (10-3)

   2 - STMA (8-5)

   3 - Moorhead (7-6)

   4 - Buffalo (7-6)

4. Section Champ - Projected: Elk River/Zimmerman

5. Thoughts:

   Well, well, well…seems the section didn’t really appreciate Buffalo’s running up the score either! Buffalo has been disappointing this year…and that was before they ran up the score on Sartel/Sauk Rapids 27-0. Good for you for working to embarrass a lesser program - would be a shame if you make state and then South runs 30 up on you...would hate to see that (but seems unlikely). But props they earned and props they will receive for ending the year for a 15-12 win @ CDH, even if the section didn’t think you deserved them!

   ERZ has been the top team for most of the year out of this section, so they deserve the #1 spot. Boring to say, but true.

Little curious to see STMA at #2. Moorhead beat them in the regular season, but they got seeded higher than the Spuds. Moorhead should (more on that below) get their rematch - and might be fun to see if Sydney Martinson can score 20 goals in sections and have Spud Wagon rattle some cages. If you’re going to punish Buffalo down to 4, it does seem hard to put Moorhead at #2 (especially with SOOOOO MANY close games), but man…beating STMA in the regular season feels like they deserve the home game in a potential rematch.

Did St. Cloud get snubbed? Their losses were 10-3 to Chisago Lakes, 19-2 to Monticello, and 12-11 to Moorhead. Probably not, but keep your head on a swivel Spud Wagon, feels like a chance at an upset there.

So then…did Monti get snubbed considering they worked over St. Cloud so bad? Started year off 0-5 and came back to a winning record at 7-6. That’s awesome and they’re on a heater right now. I’d REALLY keep your head on a swivel Buffalo.

This section meeting must have been wild when they made the seeds! Feels like a bunch of upset coaches left this one, who are going to go motivate their squads.

This then makes our pre-sectom state rankings:

1. Lakeville South

2. Prior Lake

3. BSM

4. Stillwater

5. Eden Prairie

6. Park

7. Champlin Park

8. Elk River/Zimmerman