Section 3A 23-24

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Projected Seeding (2/4/24)
1- Luverne (17-2-0)
2- New Ulm (17-4-0)
3- Mankato East (10-10-2)
4- Mankato West (7-12-2)
5- Marshall (12-10-0)
6- Minnesota River (10-9-0)
7- Worthington (7-13-0)
8- Windom (5-16-0)
9- Fairmont (2-21-0)
10- Redwood Valley (1-21-0)

Section 3A Team Resumes -
Luverne- Section 3A Record (10-0-0)
3A Wins- NU x2, Marshall x2, Worthington x2, RWV x2, Fairmont, Windom 3A Losses- None
Section 3A Games Remaining- MN River x2, Windom, Fairmont

New Ulm- Section 3A Record (12-2-0)
3A Wins- MN River x2, Marshall x2, Worthington x2, RWV x2, Fairmont x2 Windom x2 3A Losses- Luverne x2
Section 3A Games Remaining- None

Mankato East- Section 3A Record (2-0-0)
3A Wins- MN River , Mankato West 3A Losses- None
Section 3A Games Remaining- Mankato West

Mankato West- Section 3A Record (1-1-0)
3A Wins- MN River 3A Losses- Mankato East
Section 3A Games Remaining- Mankato East

Marshall- Section 3A Record (7-5-0)
3A Wins- MN River, Worthington, RWV x2, Fairmont x2 Windom 3A Losses- Luverne x2, New Ulm x2, MN RIver
Section 3A Games Remaining- Worthington & Windom

Minnesota River- Section 3A Record (6-5-0)
3A Wins- Marshall, Worthington, RWV x2, Fairmont, Windom 3A Losses- New Ulm x2, Marshall, Mankato West, Mankato East
Section 3A Games Remaining- Luverne x2 ,Worthington, Fairmont & Windom

Worthington- Section 3A Record (5-7-0)
3A Wins- RWVx3 Fairmont, Windom 3A Losses- Luverne x2, New Ulm x2, Marshall, Fairmont, MN River
Section 3A Games Remaining- Marshall, MN River & Windom

Windom- Section 3A Record (4-6-0)
3A Wins- RWV x2, Fairmont x2 3A Losses- Luverne, New Ulm x2, Marshall, MN River, Worthington
Section 3A Games Remaining- Luverne, Marshall, MN Rover & Worthington

Fairmont- Section 3A Record (2-10-0)
3A Wins- RWV, Worthington 3A Losses- Luverne, New Ulm x2, Marshall x2, MN River, Windom x2 Worthington, RWV
Section 3A Games Remaining- MN River & Luverne

Redwood Valley- Section 3A Record (1-14)
3A Wins- Fairmont 3A Losses- Luverne x2, New Ulm x2, Marshall x2, MN River x2, Worthington x3 , Windom x2, Fairmont
Section 3A Games Remaining- None

Section 3A Seeding Outlook- Luverne looks very solid for the #1 seed as they are currently unbeaten in the section. New Ulm looks like the #2 seed as they have only lost to Roll Cards Roll within the section. The winner of the 2nd meeting between Mankato East & Mankato West will determine the number 3 and 4 seed. Marshall gets the nod over Minnesota River at the 5 seed due to winning the 2nd game of the series split. Worthington for now holds the number 7 seed over Windom due to their blowout of the Eagles but they will meet again. Fairmont gets the 9 seed over Redwood Valley due to having more section wins overall on the year.

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Week #12 Scores
Monday (2/5/24)
#16 Luverne 9 Windom 2
Minnesota River 8 Worthington 0

Tuesday (2/6/24)
Mankato East 4 Mankato West 2
Marshall 12 Worthington 4
Minnesota River 8 Fairmont 3

Thursday (2/8/24)
#20 New Ulm 6 Waseca 5 OT

Friday (2/9/24)
#16 Luverne 6 Minnesota River 1
Worthington 0 Winona 7

Saturday (2/10/24)
#16 Luverne 5 Minnesota River 2
#20 New Ulm 5 Albert Lea 2
Mankato West 1 Totino Grace 5
Redwood Valley 2 Wadena Deer Creek 5
Mankato East 2 Rochester Century/JM 3

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Projected Seeding (2/11/24)
1- Luverne (20-2-0)
2- New Ulm (19-4-0)
3- Mankato East (11-11-2)
4- Mankato West (7-14-2)
5- Marshall (13-10-0)
6- Minnesota River (12-11-0)
7- Worthington (7-16-0)
8- Windom (5-17-0)
9- Fairmont (2-22-0)
10- Redwood Valley (1-22-0)

Section 3A Team Resumes -
Luverne- Section 3A Record (13-0-0)
3A Wins- NU x2, Marshall x2, Worthington x2, RWV x2, Fairmont, Windom x2, MN River x2 3A Losses- None
Section 3A Games Remaining- Fairmont

New Ulm- Section 3A Record (12-2-0)
3A Wins- MN River x2, Marshall x2, Worthington x2, RWV x2, Fairmont x2 Windom x2 3A Losses- Luverne x2
Section 3A Games Remaining- None

Mankato East- Section 3A Record (3-0-0)
3A Wins- MN River , Mankato West x23A Losses- None
Section 3A Games Remaining- None

Mankato West- Section 3A Record (1-2-0)
3A Wins- MN River 3A Losses- Mankato East x2
Section 3A Games Remaining- None

Marshall- Section 3A Record (8-5-0)
3A Wins- MN River, Worthington x2, RWV x2, Fairmont x2 Windom 3A Losses- Luverne x2, New Ulm x2, MN RIver
Section 3A Games Remaining- Windom

Minnesota River- Section 3A Record (8-7-0)
3A Wins- Marshall, Worthington x2 , RWV x2, Fairmont x2, Windom 3A Losses- NUx2, Marshall, M West, M East. Luverne x2
Section 3A Games Remaining- Windom

Worthington- Section 3A Record (5-9-0)
3A Wins- RWVx3 Fairmont, Windom 3A Losses- Luverne x2, New Ulm x2, Marshall x2, Fairmont, MN River x2
Section 3A Games Remaining- Windom

Windom- Section 3A Record (4-7-0)
3A Wins- RWV x2, Fairmont x2 3A Losses- Luverne x2, New Ulm x2, Marshall, MN River, Worthington
Section 3A Games Remaining- Marshall, MN River & Worthington

Fairmont- Section 3A Record (2-11-0)
3A Wins- RWV, Worthington 3A Losses- Luverne, New Ulm x2, Marshall x2, MN River x2, Windom x2 Worthington, RWV
Section 3A Games Remaining- Luverne

Redwood Valley- Section 3A Record (1-14)
3A Wins- Fairmont 3A Losses- Luverne x2, New Ulm x2, Marshall x2, MN River x2, Worthington x3 , Windom x2, Fairmont
Section 3A Games Remaining- None

Section 3A Seeding Outlook- Luverne looks like the #1 seed as they are currently unbeaten in the section. New Ulm looks like the #2 seed as they have only lost to Roll Cards Roll within the section. Mankato East gets the 3 seed with the sweep of Mankato West who will look to be the #4 seed. Marshall gets the nod over Minnesota River at the 5 seed due to winning the 2nd game of the series split. Worthington holds the number 7 seed over Windom for now due to their blowout of the Eagles but they will meet again. Fairmont gets the 9 seed over Redwood Valley due to having more section wins overall on the year.

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Week #13 Scores
Monday (2/12/24)
Section 3A
#16 Luverne 11 Fairmont 3
Marshall 9 Windom 2

Tuesday (2/13/24)
#16 Luverne 6 Waseca 2
#20 New Ulm 2 Hopkins 5
Mankato West 1 Prior Lake 6
Mankato East 2 Albert Lea 1 OT
Redwood Valley 4 Prairie Centre 7
Minnesota River 8 Windom 1

Thursday (2/15/24)
#16 Luverne 6 #19 La Crescent-Hokah 2
#20 New Ulm 5 Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato 1
Windom 8 Worthington 7 OT
Mankato West 7 Austin 0

Friday (2/16/24)
Minnesota River 8 #18 Dodge County 0
Marshall 4 Wasceca 6

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Playoff Preview- Section 3A and Gustavus are annually the place where we see whacky results and it seems the favorite seldom makes it through. Just how hard it is to dominate in this section? Look no further than the fact that we have not seen a repeat champion in over a decade worth of time. Despite all that Luverne appears by all accounts the heavy beating favorite to return to state for the 4th time in a decade and on the 10 year anniversary of their first ever State Tourney berth. However, there will be challengers waiting to dash the hopes of Roll Cards Roll as New Ulm appears to be fully healthy at the right time and both Mankato East & Mankato West have played a schedule to prepare them for a section run. Also, don't count out Marshall or Minnesota River as both have had nice seasons and are looking for the 2nd state tourney appearances in their school histories as Section 3A looks like a good one. What will Gusty Magic have in store for us this year?

Section 3A
Play In 2/20 High Seed
QF 2/22 High Seed
SF 2/24 Gustavus
F 2/28 Gustavus

Section 3A Seeds
1- Luverne (23-2-0)
2- New Ulm (20-5-0)
3- Mankato East (12-11-2)
4- Mankato West (8-15-2)
5- Marshall (14-11-0)
6- Minnesota River (14-11-0)
7- Windom (6-19-0)
8- Worthington (7-17-0)
9- Fairmont (2-23-0)
10- Redwood Valley (1-23-0)

The Favorite- Luverne comes in as the heavy favorite to head to State for the 4th time in the last 10 years and for the first time ever to make a back to back State Tourney appearance. There is a lot to like about Roll Cards Roll as they have an explosive and deep scoring lineup as Seniors Patrick Kroski, Owen Sudenga, Elliot Domagala and Sophomores Landyn Lais & Maddux Domagala have all had big offensive seasons. Add in Senior Henry Hasrtquist, Junior Blaik Bork, Sophomore Jaxon Lais & 9th grader Ben Hartquist on the blueline are all having big years and there are plenty of scorers up and down the line up card. Senior Tyler Arends is in his 3rd full year as the starter in net and he back boned the teams run to State last year and this team looks locked and loaded for a return trip to State.

The Challenger- New Ulm appears to be the main challenger in the way of Luverne making back to back State tournament trips. The Eagles have fought through the injury bug but are hoping to be at full strength for the playoff run unlike last year. The Eagles have plenty of firepower of their own in Seniors Austin Uecker, Kaden Larson, & Bryer Lang along with Junior Ian Brudelie & Brecken Neuman to be able to match up with the offense of the section favorite. Also, they have great experience of their own net as Senior Bryer Hoffmann can steal a game on any given night and is one the top goaltenders in all of Southwest Minnesota to make New Ulm a legit contender to get to State.

The Dark Horses- The two main dark horses in 3A reside in the same city as both Mankato schools play tougher schedules during the year to prepare them for a deep playoff run. Mankato East is looking to get back to State after falling short in their repeat attempt last winter. The Cougars have had a very nice finish to the year going (4-1-1) in their last 6 games. Seniors Christian Theuninck & Owen Quist and Junior Caden Hansen will need to lead the way as they have done all season and this could be a very dangerous sleeper team to win Section 3A. Mankato West has struggled all season with scoring but they play a very tough in your face physical style that most in 3A teams are not accustomed to and could cause teams issues. They will need big physical Senior Gage Schmidt to lead the way and hope that by the playoffs their most skilled player Junior Jaeger Zimmerman will hopefully have found his hockey legs after missing the majority of the season due to injury. They will be in every game as Sophomore Mason Schreiber has been rock solid in net and if they can average 3 goals for three straight games watch out for the Scarlets.

Section Scaries- Section 3A’s toughest low seed opponent could be Minnesota River as the Bulldogs are an experienced group who have shown at times they can get hot and go on a win streak. Seniors Drew Simonette & Travis Kotek along with Junior Cole Goecke and Sophomore Riley Kamm have carried the offense. They are a team full of experience and will be a tough Quarterfinal opponent. Marshall is the other road playoff team that could have an upset or two within this section. Senior Talen Plante is as good as they come and provides a ton of offense from the back end while Junior Owen Renslow has had a big year up front for the Tigers. Senior Gavin Welsh has had a very good year in the net and Marshall does have the pieces to get back to Gustavus this year and cause the high seeds some issues.

The Rest- Worthington is much improved this year and they have grown throughout the season. The Trojans have gotten big years out of their Junior duo of Spenser Nickel & Easton Newman who both have had big goal scoring years. Windom has had a down year compared to the teams they have had recently but that hasn't stopped Seniors Sonny Heil & Wriley Haugen from having big offensive years. Fairmont has had a tough season as well but youngster Sophomore Gavin Kester has been a bright spot as the team's leading goal scorer. Redwood Valley was only able to win one game this year but give credit to 9th grader Jacob O'Halloran in net as he shows up every night and competes while facing 50-60 shots nightly.

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Play In Games
#9 Fairmont 4 #8 Worthington 3
#7 Windom 7 #10 Redwood Valley 0

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A QF Games
#1 Luverne 9 #9 Fairmont 0
#5 Marshall 3 #4 Mankato West 2
#3 Mankato East 5 #6 Minnesota River 4
#2 New Ulm 8 #7 Windom 1

Section 3A SF Games @ Gustavus
#5 Marshall 3 #1 Luverne 2
#2 New Ulm 6 #3 Mankato East 3

[Corn Cobb]

#L

#cards get rolled