Girls Hockey: 2024 State Tournament Day 1 Recap

Top seeds held true on the opening day of the Minnesota State High School League’s Girls Hockey State Tournament on Wednesday, Feb. 21 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. In the Class A field that opened the four-day event, top-seeded Holy Angels, No. 2 Orono, No. 3 Dodge County and No. 4 Warroad recorded quarterfinal victories.

After enjoying a day off on Thursday, the Class A tournament resumes on Friday with the semifinals. Orono, looking for a return trip to the Class A championship game, faces tournament rookie, Dodge County. In the lower bracket, Holy Angels, 12-1 in its past 13 games, faces Warroad in the other semifinal. Warroad is the defending Class A champion and looking to get into position to defend its crown.

Here is a look at how those teams advanced on Wednesday:

• In the final game of the evening, Warroad edged Proctor/Hermantown 2-1 behind a goal from Taylor Reese with 3:59 remaining in overtime. With an extra attacker, Proctor/Hermantown’s Taylee Manion scored with 40.7 seconds left in regulation to forge a 1-all time and extra hockey. Warroad’s Sophie Johnson had scored late in the first period, a lead the Warriors were nearly able to protect to advance in regulation time.
• Orono, making its third consecutive appearance in the state tournament, opened the day with a 4-1 victory over Willmar.  Maddy Kimbrel and Zoe Lopez scored first goals in the first period to spur the Spartans.
• Holy Angels looked the part of a top seed in a 6-1 victory over Luverne in the first quarterfinal of the evening session. Bella LaMere fueled the attack with a hat trick. She has 25 goals this season.
• Dodge County, the Section 1A champion, made a successful state tournament debut behind two goals from Nora Carstensen in a 4-0 victory over Fergus Falls.