Daily Dish 4.26
Waited a few days to post one of these as I wanted to get a few more meaningful games in the recap here.
SATURDAY
Saturday was a lighter day across the league but one of the more interesting scores was The Valley 5 - Jefferson 3. Very low scoring game on a cold/windy weather day. We know Jefferson’s strength is defense but I did expect the valley to score more than 5 on them. Nonetheless, it was a good section win for The Valley and unfortunately for the Jags, they have now sit 0-2 vs Section 6 teams. They play Prior Lake next week and Edina later in May which becomes big for their section seeding implications. The Valley has had the easier part of their schedule (aside from BSM) but next week begins a much tougher final 6 games. I think they have top 10 potential and they will have every opportunity to prove it.
Also on Saturday, Chanhassen saw their first action with a 12-6 win of CDH. Sounds like this game was 11-2 with about 5 mins left and Chanhassen tossed some depth guys into the game. I thought CDH might be more competitive in this game, but, Chan really showing they are set up to reload every year.
MONDAY
Monday was another light day in the sense that there weren’t any HUGE games, but, a couple notable ones that stood out. Blaine vs Maple Grove was a game I thought maybe could have some upset potential. Blaine has a good FO guy and Goalie and held Armstrong to 8 goals a week ago. Unfortunately, for me, The Crimson had other ideas and looked to be in complete control in their 9-4 win over the Bengals. Maple Grove is for real this year and I would expect them to win the NWSC and make their way through to the Section 5 final. Are they built to upset BSM in sections? I don’t know. But, they look like a team that will bring everything they have to do so.
While the game didn’t have super big implications, one notable score I saw was Totino-Grace beating Elk River 13-5. I thought the Elks were going to be a challenger in Section 8 this year, which, they may still be, but I think it’s time we talk about Totino-Grace and their offense. Not sure what changed over there but, they are 3-1 and have scored 16, 12, 10, 13 in their 4 games. Unfortunately, they gave up 20 in their loss to Armstrong (who also looks to have some offensive firepower) but, shoutout to TG and their coaching staff for dialing it in this year on the offensive end!
TUESDAY
Wow - so many good matchups yesterday! However, the biggest surprise was how uncompetitive a lot of these so called great matchups were.
We will start in the early window with I think everyone’s game of the night: Shakopee @ Prior Lake.
This was the first game for the Lakers this season and what a tough opponent to start with! Shakopee entered the game already having played 4 contests so it was interesting to see how both teams managed some of the details. Prior Lake looked skilled but uncharacteristically sloppy/disorganized at times. #FirstGameProbs. Despite all that, Prior Lake looked dominant at times and held leads after 1 and and halftime. However, the Sabres stuck to it and clawed their way to a lead in the third quarter and when the momentum shifted, they never gave it back. Prior Lake started pressing a bit taking more risks on offense and defense and Shakopee was able to capitalize to pull away at the end. Shakopee earns their first ever win against PL and put themselves in a great position to win the SSC this year. As for PL, the talent is still there. Did they have their best night? probably not. But, wouldn’t want to be someone who counted them out after one game. Still some extremely high end players on that team. Should be able to run with anyone when they dial in a few of the mishaps from last night
The other big SSC game was Lakeville North vs Rosemount.
Lakeville North has come out of the gate firing. They have a chip on their shoulder and are playing at a pace I have not seen by a MN HS team since the 2017 Eagan Wildcats. They have the best Face-Off guy and 6 talented offensive starters so their ability to go on runs and put teams away is unbelievable. Nobody has been able to put the plan in place to slow the game down and the scores have shown. I am impressed by how much more mature the Piscatello brothers are at Attack this year as sophomores. Winship and the older Piscatello (Leo) are healthy and look to have command of their offense. This game was over quickly. Rosemount had a lot of hype heading into the season and I still think they are a good team. They will be hungry to get back in the W column on Saturday against Wayzata.
BSM and Jefferson battled in a Metro West tilt and this game started 1-1, we thought, maybe just maybe there is a chance, then nope. BSM took control and dominated to an 11-1 win. Their defense is extremely tough and Jefferson struggled to get anything going. BSM did get into foul trouble in the game, which took the ball out of their offense’s hands a bit. Probably why they only scored 11, but, overall it was a dominant performance. Brandt showed off skills that gave us a glimpse why he is the front runner for Mr Lacrosse and Gus Bell is probably the most pure shooter in MN. He is automatic from 15yds and in. I don’t know many other guys that have the range he does.
Mahtomedi traveled over to Chanhassen for a cool east/west tilt. I didn’t get to see this game, so, I don’t have much of an analysis, but, Chan won the game 9-4. Looking at the box score, it was 3-3 at half time so, looks like it was competitive but a 3-0 third quarter put Mahtomedi behind the 8 ball. I guess tip of the cap to Mahtomedi for only allowing 9 to Chanhassen. That is a decent defensive performance. However, only scoring 4 is concerning. I was high on Mahtomedi on being a top caliber team this year, but, Chanhassen showing they are still in that upper echelon. One thing to note was the face-off battle was 50/50 - Mahtomedi’s guy is considered one of the top in state, so, tip of the cap to #team36 guy Joey Schmidt and the Storm for battling at the X.
Edina and EP squared off in a game of two teams looking to take the next step. JP was at this game and was impressed with both teams but notably Edina’s defense. He said they were aggressive and physical and it caused a lot of problems for EP. The game was pretty close the whole way and Edina prevailed with a 9-6 win. Edina is now 2-0 with quality wins over Rosemount and EP. They might start creeping into the top 10 conversation here shortly.
