Laker girls hockey ready for first state playoff appearance
Playing the underdog role isn’t new for the Detroit Lakes girls’ hockey team.
But the role isn’t shunned, either, by the surprising Laker squad, who earned their first-ever state tournament berth Friday by upsetting the Section 6-1A top-seeded Alexandria Cardinals 2-0.
That underdog role takes on another meaning for the Lakers (13-14-0), who will open against the No. 2 seeded Warroad Warriors (22-4-1) Wednesday at 11 a.m. inside the Xcel Energy Center in the Class 1A state quarterfinals.
The Warriors know what state ice feels like, since they are the two-time defending Class 1A champions, while the Lakers will be making their state debut.
What the Lakers hope for, though, is a good start which will lead into a good ending.
“Being the underdog helps anybody and one of the advantages we do have is they have not seen us yet this season,” said first-year head coach Gretchen Norby. “Up until the last three games, we didn’t even know what kind of team we were.
“So they maybe are overlooking us some, hopefully.”
The Lakers will need to put in their strongest defensive effort to date, though, to keep the Warrior forwards off of DL goalie Veronica Badurek.
Three of Warroad’s four losses came against Class 2A qualifiers; twice to Minnetonka 3-2 and 5-3, and 5-2 by Edina.
Two wins came against Class AA qualifier Roseau, 1-0 and 2-1. The only Class 1A qualifier Warroad played was South St. Paul with a 5-0 victory the result.
Junior forwards Kayla Gardner and Lisa Marvin lead the Warriors, each with 86 points; Gardner on 48 goals and 38 assists, and Marvin with 29 goals and 57 assists.
Senior defender Hannah Johnson added 14 goals and 30 assists, and eighth-grade forward Demi Gardner added 15 goals and 28 assists.
Junior goaltender Dayton Hilgert played in every game and has a save percentage of 0.912, made 457 saves and gave up 44 goals. Twenty-eight of the team’s 134 goals came on power plays.
A quick start and an early lead could potentially make up for DL’s lack of depth, compared to Warroad’s three lines.
“We normally play with two lines, so our players will be gassed by the final period,” Norby said. “We need to play smart and aggressive hockey. If we could get a couple of goals on them early, to allow us some shorter shifts, that would definitely give us a boost of confidence and a big boost to our goalie, as well.”
Senior forward Brianna Seebold became the school’s career scoring leader with her 32 goals, 23 assist effort this season.
Junior defender Callie Johnson added 11 goals and 22 assists and junior forward Emily Payne added 13 goals and 15 assists.
Ninth-grader Badurek has played goalie in two-thirds of the Lakers’ games and junior Veronica Roy the other third.
Norby also has been an important aspect for the players, who credit their first-year head coach as being a big influence on their state run.
“Gretchen has the most heart of anyone out here,” said senior defender Emily Raboin. “We all remember her playing for the Lakers when we were little kids.
“She never lost faith in us and always had our backs.”
Although the mountain to climb just became a lot steeper in the form of the Warroad Warriors, the Lakers are not balking at the challenge.
Instead come Wednesday morning at 11 a.m. inside the Xcel Energy Center, they will head out for their first state appearance and try for another round of upset hockey.
In the other Class 1A quarterfinal round games, No. 3 seeded South St. Paul (20-7-0) will play New Ulm (13-13-1), while No. 1 Breck (24-2-1) will face Chisago Lakes (20-7-1) and No. 4 Red Wing (19-7-1) will take on Hutchinson (15-12-0).
The semifinals and finals will be played at the Xcel Energy Center, while the consolation rounds will be played inside the Ridder Arena on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis.