Section 8A Final (2/29/24)- #1 EGF vs #2 Warroad

[ClassAGuy]

They split during the year should be a classic game. Who Wins?

[Mite-dad]

Is this game actually at Warroad? Seems it should be on a neutral site.

[bardown27]

Is this game actually at Warroad? Seems it should be on a neutral site.

they rotate the section final between Warroad, EGF, and TRF on a 3 year basis.

going back the last 10 years (including this year) the host team has played in their home rink for the section final 4 times (2023/2024 Warroad in Warroad, 2020/2021 Warroad in Warroad, 2018/2019 EGF in EGF), 2015/2016 EGF in EGF).

[ClassAGuy]

#1 seed East Grand Forks Greenwave (18-8-1)
East Grand Forks enters the 8A Finals having breezed through the first two rounds of the sectional. EGF has been scoring on teams early and often and they have outscored teams 22-1 so far and have gotten production from all forward lines and defensive pairs on this run. They enter the section final looking to get back to the State Tournament for the first time since 2021 and put an end to the recent Warroad reign in Section 8A.

EGF Leaders- Seniors #22 Brock Schultz (23-30-53 pts), #7 Landon Jamieson (18-19-37 pts) & Juniors #17 Hunter Varnson (12-15-27 pts) & #10 Jace Van Eps (11-13-24 pts) lead the way up front all having double digit goals. Senior #9 Grady Magner (17-18-35 pts) & Junior #2 Cole Bies (4-5-9 pts) anchor the blueline as both have tons of varsity hockey experience.

EGF Goalie- Junior #35 Ryan Rockstad (11-6-1) 2.61 GAA .878 SV% won the job in net as the year went along and while goaltending has been the Achilles heel of EGF, Rockstad has been at his best so far in their 8A Playoff run.

EGF Waves of Depth - No other Class A team has the depth at both forward and defense that EGF possess as the development up front of Sophomores #6 Tucker Lovejoy (11-11-22 pts), #14 Nolan Meulebrock (3-14-17 pts) & 9th grader #39 Jace Panzer (4-14-18 pts) give them three potent lines. Add in excellent Juniors #27 Nick Corbett (6-7-13 pts) & #11 Judd Pesch (3-11-14 pts) on the blueline and this a deep lineup that is the perfect counter to the elite top end of Warroad and a match up nightmare from them.

EGF Special Teams- The Power Play is at 32.9% and Penalty Kill is at 88.9 %

#2 seed Warroad Warriors (22-5-0)
Warroad enters the 8A Final looking for the 3-peat to get back to St Paul for State Title #5. This group has been playing for something bigger all year after an offseason stricken by tragedy within their hockey community. Warroad will attempt to ease that pain by honoring the falling by winning the big game in the sport those who they have lost truly loved. It won't be easy as EGF showed a few weeks ago they are for real and it should be a classic battle up north.

Warriors Leaders- Seniors #5 Carson Pilgrim (29-31-60 pts) & #22 Murray Marvin-Cordes (22-25-47 pts) and Junior #15 Taven James (20-37-57 pts) make up the engine of the Warrior machine. Senior #25 Ryan Lund (18-21-39 pts) & Sophomore #21 Broden Hontvet (4-25-29 pts) are both big mobile defenseman who play big minutes and can join the rush and add to the offensive attack.

Warriors Goalie- Senior #30 Ben Norris (22-5-0) 2.15 GAA .895 SV% has played every minute in net this winter and has gotten steadily better over the season he has been solid so far in the 8A playoff run.

Warriors Home Ice Advantage- One of the weird quirks of 8A is that they rotate the Semifinal and Final amongst the Big Three and this year it just happened to land in Warroad. This core group of Warriors over the last three seasons has been especially good at home. They are now (41-5-1) over that time and their elite skill seems to thrive on a big sheet of ice and it will be hard to beat this group on their last ever game on home ice as they seem to always kick it into another gear when playing in Warroad.

Warriors Special Teams- The Power Play is at 28% and Penalty Kill is at 81.28 %

[ClassAGuy]

Warroad up 1-0 2nd period

[ClassAGuy]

EGF ties it up 1-1 2nd period

[ClassAGuy]

Warroad goes back up 2-1 2nd period

[ClassAGuy]

EGF ties it up 2-2 mid 3rd period

[ClassAGuy]

EGF goes up 3-2 3rd period

[ClassAGuy]

Warroad ties it up 3-3 3rd period

[SCBlueLiner]

Great game. Too bad both teams couldn't go.

[ClassAGuy]

Great game. Too bad both teams couldn't go.

Warroad with 4 PP goals WHAT A GAME!