Sections: Day 5
Things are starting to take form. Many of the sections have ended up 1,2,3,4 seeds in the semi’s on both the boys and girls side, however, we did have a few 5 seeds get through. Also, in what was probably the game of the night last night, a 7 seed ALMOST made it past a 2. We still have section 4 and one final game in section 2 to be played tonight before the semi’s are all locked in
Minnetonka 10 v Buffalo 6: The Skippers lost the battle in May, but win the war in June. Avenging an overtime loss a couple weeks back, Minnetonka wins the rematch and moves on to get another rematch against the Storm. This game was 5-5 at halftime and the Skippers dialed up the defense in the second half. We have said it all along, the Skippers have talent - if they put it together, they can beat anyone. Tons of heartbreaking one goal/OT losses this season. Maybe they can draw on those games to dial in the gameplan for next week.
Shakopee 6 v Chaska 5: I love the Chaska program and have coached a handful of their guys over the years. They have struggled with numbers over the last 5-6 years with many kids going over to Chanhassen to open enroll. As much as I was cheering for the Hawks this season, I did not think they had much of a chance against Shakopee, a top 5 team in the state. However, they proved me wrong. Absolute gutsy, gritty performance by them. Chaska found a way to slow the game down and keep it close with a nice looking zone defense. They found their opportunities on offense. Shakopee, however, being the great team that they are, found a way to win. That is why they are a top 5 team. Teams don’t always play their best game, but, you need to find a way to win when you don’t play your best, and Shakopee did that. I was impressed that while Chaska frustrated them the whole game, they did not panic… they were able to generate stops/turnovers on defense and then hit their shots late in the game against a goalie who played fantastic. Tip of the cap to both teams here.
Rosemount 7 v Jefferson 5: Probably the best and most competitive matchup of the quarterfinal games in all sections. I won’t go into detail on this one as JP did a write up from his coverage of the game on our Game of the Week blog
Anoka 7 v Blaine 4: Another “upset” as the 5 seed moves on over the 4. Both teams have been up and down this year and I wrote about this one a couple days ago. This is a rematch of a close game Blaine won back in April and the Tornadoes were able to flip the script and move on. I did not see this game but looks like Anoka’s defense held Blaine to one goal through three quarters… hat tip to Anoka on the big win!
Unfortunately, the rest of the games were blowouts which is tough. However, in theory, it should set up some great semi-final matchups next week!