| 2/19/2006 CLASS A SECTION OUTLOOK Section 1A Albert Lea (12-12-1, #1 seed), defending Section 1A champion, lost at Austin, 3-2 in overtime, on Feb. 17. Split with Austin and Mankato East during the regular season. Austin (15-9-1, #2 seed), played in Section 1AA last year, defeated Austin, Faribault, and Rochester Lourdes in the last three weeks. Mankato East (?12-12-1, #3 seed), had a loss and a tie with Austin Marshall (18-6-1, #4 seed), tied Albert Lea, lost to Mankato East Section 2A Duluth Marshall (23-1-1, #1 seed), defending Section 2A champion, #1 rated team in Class A, only loss on the season to Class AA Cloquet/Esko/Carlton, defeated St. Cloud Cathedral, Sauk Rapids-Rice, and Duluth Denfeld during the regular season St. Cloud Cathedral (21-5-0, #2 seed), lost to Duluth Marshall in the Section 2A championship game last season, lost at Duluth Marshall, 3-0, in December, defeated Sauk Rapids-Rice at Sauk Rapids, 2-1, defeated Duluth Denfeld at home, 5-3. Sauk Rapids-Rice (20-6-0, #3 seed), second place in Central Lakes Conference behind Class AA Brainerd, defeate?d Little Falls twice and St. Cloud Tech three times during regular season Duluth Denfeld (14-11-?0, #4 seed), started strong, 9-3 in first half of the season with wins over Hermantown and Orono, 5-8 in last half of season, lost five in a row late in the season but mostly against tough Class AA competition. Section 3A St. Thomas Academy (19-5-1, #1 seed), defending Section 3A champion, four of their five losses were to Class AA teams, tied Red Wing, 4-4, and beat Rochester Lourdes early in the season, dealt Class AA Hill-Murray a 5-4 loss in late January Red Wing (16-6-3, #2 seed), tough early season schedule with four overtime games including wins over Breck and Mahtomedi and ties with St. Thomas Academy and Rochester Lourdes, split with Northfield Northfield (13-6-2, #3 seed), after an 0-2 start, their only loss to a Class A team was at Red Wing, 1-0. Rochester Lourdes (13-8-2, #4 seed), played one of the tougher schedules for a Class A team, lost St. Thomas Academy, tied Red Wing and Northfield, biggest win was over Totino-Grace to finish the season. Section 4A Little Falls (19-4-2, #1 seed), defending Section 4A champion, defeated Alexandria twice during the regular season but finished fourth in Central Lakes Conference. Alexandria (14-11-0, #2 seed), played in Section 8AA last year, finished third in Central Lakes Conference, lost twice to Little Falls, defeated Fergus Falls twice, played a tougher schedule than most Class A teams. Fergus Falls (14-8-2, #3 seed), finished fifth in the Central Lakes Conference, had a loss and a tie against Little Falls, lost twice to Alexandria, 2-1 and 3-1. Morris/Benson Area (19-3-0, #4 seed), best season ever for Morris/Benson Area, were 18-1-0 at one point but lost two games late in the season, lost to Little Falls 7-4, defeated Willmar 4-2. Section 5A Breck (18-8-0), split with Blake, lost to St. Louis Park 2-0, defeated Totino-Grace twice, 5-4 and 3-2 in overtime, Blake (14-8-3), split with Breck, defeated St. Louis Park 5-3, lost to Totino-Grace 5-3, were 3-5-2 at one point in the season, finished 11-3-1 in last 15 games. St. Louis Park (18-6-1), defeated Breck, lost to Blake, split with Totino-Grace, had wins over Edina, Grand Rapids, and Hibbing Totino-Grace (15-11-0), defending Section 5A champion, lost twice to Breck but defeated Blake and split with St. Louis Park, lost to Duluth Marshall and St. Thomas Academy. Section 6A Delano/Rockford (17-5-1, #1 seed), best year ever for Delano hockey, a slight surprise and #1 seed, defeated Orono twice during the regular season but lost to Shakopee, 4-3, split with St. Cloud Cathedral to tie the Crusaders for first place in Wright County Conference. Shakopee (14-9-2, #2 seed), defending Section 6A champion, 10-0-1 in first half of season, but 4-9-2 in second half during Missota Conference play, defeated Delano/Rockford, tied Orono 3-3. Orono (13-11-1, #3 seed), lost to Delano/Rockford twice, tied Shakopee, defeated Faribault 2-1, best game was a 4-3 overtime loss at Breck. Faribault (17-7-1, #4 seed), finished third in Big Nine Conference, lost to Orono, defeaeted Northfield 5-2. Section 7A Hermantown (22-2-0, #1 seed), had an early season loss to Duluth Denfeld, lost at Duluth Marshall 5-1, had a 12 game winning streak snapped with loss in last game at Lake Of The Woods, the streak included wins over Class AA Cloquet/Esko/Carlton, Hibbing, Red Wing, and Sauk Rapids-Rice. Hibbing (13-11-0, #2 seed), were 7-1-0 in first eight games but 6-10-0 in last 16 games, lost to Hermantown 3-2, defeated Virginia/Mountain Iron-Buhl 5-4 in overtime last week, had three close losses to Class AA Duluth East, Grand Rapids, and Roseau. Virginia/Mountain Iron-Buhl (20-5-0, #3 seed), defending Section 7A champion, lost to both Hermantown and Hibbing, also lost at Thief River Falls, biggest win was early in the season over Grand Rapids, 4-2. Section 8A Thief River Falls (18-7-0, #1 seed), defeated Warroad twice, 3-2 and 5-0, and Crookston twice, two losses came at end of season without leading player Michael Forney. Warroad (13-9-3, #2 seed), defending Section 8A champion, lost to Thief River Falls twice, edged Crookston twice, 1-0 and 1-0 in overtime, biggest win was over Roseau 4-1. Crookston (11-11-3, #3 seed), lost to Thief River Falls twice and Warroad twice, split with Detroit Lakes. |