Daily Dish 5.2
Monday night gave us a smaller slate of games but there were a few interesting matchups to note
STA 6 v Minnetonka 7: STA traveled to Minnetonka for an Out Of Conference tilt. Minnetonka has been Jekyll and Hyde this season while STA started off slow and has kicked it up a notch in their past 4 games. Reports of the game were that the Minnetonka defense was stout all game and limited the amount of touches that #23 of STA, Matt Hudson was able to receive. He is their best player and the whole offense works through him so good scouting/gameplanning by MTKA. Unfortunately, the other report of the game was that it was very sloppy and there were an immense amount of turnovers for a game featuring two top 10 caliber teams. Maybe both teams were putting pressure on one another to cause this, maybe it was the gale force winds last night, I don’t know. It sounds like Minnetonka had a 7-1 lead midway through the 4th quarter and started playing a little reckless allowing STA some added possessions and a chance to fight back. Props to STA for fighting to the end. I feel like both these teams are good, but, need to clean some things up to be elite.
Rochester Mayo 12 v Mankato 9: I felt like this was a very intriguing big 9/section 1 matchup with two teams that are on the rise. Mayo prevailed with a 12-9 victory but the game looked to be close. I didn’t see the game or have stats available so I am not sure of the full story, but, these two teams seem to be the ones who will battle it out for the Big 9 crown. They play again @ Mayo later in May and I am very intrigued for the rematch. Both teams are now 4-1 on the season, tip off the cap to both programs who were 3-10 & 8-6, respectively, last season.
Eagan 7 v Shakopee 13: A big SSC matchup with Eagan coming off a big win against Woodbury on Sat night and Shakopee coming back from an upset loss to Moorhead on Thursday. This game was 4-4 at halftime and then the sabres dominated the second half scoring 9 goals giving up only 3. I was able to watch this game and it looked fairly even for most of the game. Even in the at the end of third quarter when Shakopee was 7-4, I felt like Eagan was very much still in the game. Shakopee is extremely athletic on defense and maybe that wore on the Wildcats as the game went on because once that game became 8-4, it seemed like the Wildcats just sort of thew in the towel. Credit to Shakopee for recognizing the Eagan goalie not having his best night and being more willing to shoot the ball which allowed them to get a few quick ones. Shakopee is a top 5 team for a reason as they find ways to win. Eagan is interesting to me, I think they could be a really good team but have been a rollercoaster this season.
