Section 5A 23-24

[ClassAGuy]

Section 5A Seeding Projection (2/11/24)
1- St Cloud Cathedral (18-4-1)
2- Monticello (18-4-1)
3- Little Falls (16-8-0)
4- River Lakes (13-9-2)
5- Princeton (10-12-2)
6- Pine City (11-13-0)
7- Sauk Rapids (9-13-3)
8- Becker/Big Lake (14-9-0)
9- Mora/Milaca (14-9-1)

Section 5A Team Resumes -
St Cloud Cathedral- Section 5A Record (3-0-0)
5A Wins- LF, Princeton, RL 5A Losses- None
Section 5A Games Remaining- Little Falls & Monticello

Monticello- Section 5A Record (6-0-1)
5A Wins- LF, PC x2, SR, BBL, Princeton 5A Losses- None 5A Tie- Princeton
Section 5A Games Remaining- SCC

Little Falls- Section 5A Record (4-2-0)
5A Wins- Princeton x2, SR, RL 5A Losses- SCC & Monti
Section 5A Games Remaining- SCC

River Lakes- Section 5A Record (3-3-2)
5A Wins- PC, BBL & SR 5A Losses- BBL, LF, SCC 5A Tie- Princeton & SR
Section 5A Games Remaining- None

Princeton- Section 5A Record (4-6-2)
5A Wins- M/M, PC, BBL x2 5A Losses- SCC, LF x2, Monti, PC & SR 5A Tie- RL & Monti
Section 5A Games Remaining- None

Pine City- Section 5A Record (5-5-0)
5A Wins- BBL, M/M x2, SR, Princeton 5A Losses- RL, BBL, Princeton, Monti x2
Section 5A Games Remaining- None

Sauk Rapids - Section 5A Record (2-4-2)
5A Wins- BBL & Princeton 5A Losses- LF, Monti, PC, RL 5A Ties- RL & M/M
Section 5A Games Remaining- None

Becker Big Lake - Section 5A Record (2-6-0)
5A Wins- RL & PC 5A Losses- SR, Princeton x2, PC, Monti, RL
Section 5A Games Remaining- M/M

Mora/Milaca - Section 5A Record (0-3-1)
5A Wins- None 5A Losses- PC x2, Princeton 5A Tie- SR
Section 5A Games Remaining- BBL

Section 5A Seeding Outlook- St Cloud Cathedral looks strong for the #1 seed but big games with the Flyers and Moose loom this week. Monticello is the #2 seed with the tie with Tigers the second time around but if they beat SCC in the last game of the season will be #1. Little Falls only has losses to SCC and the Moose to be the 3 seed. River Lakes is the 4 seed with a tie with Princeton and head to head wins over both Pine City & Sauk Rapids and the 2nd win of a split with Becker Big Lake. It is anyone's guess on seed 5-6-7-8 as they all own wins over the other. Mora/Milaca is the 9 seed as they are winless in the section.

[Mite-dad]

Any thoughts on the unlikely senario where LF upsets SCC, then SCC beats Monti?? Or would 1, 2, 3, still align as now?

[ClassAGuy]

Any thoughts on the unlikely senario where LF upsets SCC, then SCC beats Monti?? Or would 1, 2, 3, still align as now?

SCC would most likely stay 1 due to an overall split with LF and beating Monti head to head who LF did not beat.

2 and 3 would interesting because the Monti win over LF was way back in November...

That would spice it up and who knows with the 5A coaches who have really shown they will go out of their way to vote against the Private school SCC who was seeded #3 the last two years incorrectly (Beat Cambridge head to head day before seed meeting two years ago still seeded below them, Beat Monticello head to head the day before seed meeting last year still seeded below them) Both time Cathedral won easily on the road in the Semi so it didnt really effect things too much. However, I am not sure they would want to poke that bear this year.

Would be great for LF or Monti to beat SCC or keep it tight this week just to show that an upset for Sectionals is a maybe.

[ClassAGuy]

Section 5A Week #13 Scores
Monday (2/12/24)
Pine City Area 9 Northern Edge 1

Tuesday (2/13/23)
#2 St Cloud Cathedral 3 #15 Little Falls 2
#13 Monticello 4 Minneapolis 3 OT
Becker/Big Lake 4 Mora/Milaca 2

Thursday (2/15/24)
#2 St Cloud Cathedral 3 #13 Monticello 0
Princeton 5 Hutchinson 1

Friday (2/16/24)
River Lakes 5 Willmar 0

Saturday (2/17/24)
Section 5A Playoffs Play In Game
#8 seed Becker/Big Lake 6 #9 seed Mora/Milaca 4

[ClassAGuy]

Official Section 5A Seeds
1. St. Cloud Cathedral
2. Monticello
3. Little Falls
4. River Lakes
5. Pine City
6. Princeton
7. Sauk Rapids-Rice
8. Becker/Big Lake
9. Mora/Milaca

[ClassAGuy]

Section 5A Playoff Preview- The 1st ever Boys Hockey Class A State Tournament was in 1994 and St Cloud Cathedral was one of the original 8 teams. They have become a blueblood Class A program over the years regularly returning to state and especially in years that end with the number four. 1994, 2004 & 2014 all had Crusader teams at the A Tourney leaving the question, will 2024 be more of the same? While Cathedral is the heavy favorite both Monticello & Little Falls have had outstanding years and been Top 15 Class A teams this season. Add to the mix that both River Lakes, Pine City & Princeton have all pulled off big upsets over some good Class A programs this year and Section 5A should have some good battles but again with the year ending in the number four are we destined to see the Crusaders in St Paul again?

Section 5A
Play In 2/17 High Seed (BBL defeated Mora/Milaca 6-4)
QF 2/20 High Seed
SF 2/24 High Seed
F 2/28 Furniture and Things Community Event Center

Section 5A Seeds
1- St Cloud Cathedral (20-4-1)
2- Monticello (19-5-1)
3- Little Falls (16-9-0)
4- River Lakes (14-9-2)
5- Pine City (12-13-0)
6- Princeton (11-12-2)
7- Sauk Rapids (9-13-3)
8- Becker/Big Lake (16-9-0)
9- Mora/Milaca (14-11-1)

The Favorite- St Cloud Cathedral has been excellent all year and they come into the 5A sectional red hot having won 12 of their last 13 games. Cathedral is led by their big line of Senior Andrew Dwinnell and Juniors John Hirschfeld & Joey Gillespie who are one of the scariest trios that you will see in all of Class A. They have gotten some depth scoring as the year has gone on from Senior Cole Hwang & Junior Jaeger Wood. On the blueline Sophomore Griffin Sturm is one of the top young defenseman in the state. Then you factor in that SCC is unbeaten when goaltender Senior Nick Hansen is in net and plays a full game. It all adds up to a very complete team that will be very difficult to knock off as the Crusaders looked primed to defend their 5A title.

The Challengers- The two main contenders to the Crusaders would appear to be two very traditionally strong Class A programs in their own right. Monticello comes in having had a fantastic regular season and they are led by their big line of Seniors Roman Thompson, Gunnar Simon & Junior Landen Scherber who have put up massive numbers for the Moose. Defensively, Junior Aidan Widmark & 9th grader Nicklas Nelson are very smooth and are able to get the puck out of their own end efficiently. Goaltender Senior Owen Soderholm has been very strong again this season in the net and all pieces are in place for Monticello to make a serious competitive run at a return trip to state.

Little Falls is the other main contender as they come into the playoffs having played the many of the best in Class A and are a tough and rugged group that will be hard to knock off in the 5A sectional. They are led up front by Senior Carter Oothoudt & Juniors Ryan Oothodt along with Juniors Joey Welinski & Luke Avery who have formed the core of their two lines by year's end to try and give the team some scoring punch. However, the defense has been an issue at times as they have been shuffling people back to the blueline throughout the year. The reason though to like this team is in net as Sophomore Izaak Kalis is as good as they come in Class A and he can steal a game or two for the Flyers and help them make a run back to St. Paul.

The Dark Horses- The 4 vs 5 Quarterfinal game will feature a pair of dark horse teams. River Lakes has shown they can surprise teams as evidenced by their upset win over ranked Alexandria late in the year. The Stars are led by Junior Blake Schultz & Sophomore Parker Welz who along with Seniors Matthew Dotzler & Anthony Fink have all had big years offensively. Junior Jace Griffin has patrolled the blueline again this year and leads the defense as the Stars could be another really good darkhorse pick in 5A. Pine City is another dark horse pick as they have the ability to pull a big upset or two within the 5A playoffs. Sophomore McCall Leger & Senior Gavin Broz have put up massive numbers offensively to and are dangerous vs anyone they play. Defensively Senior Hunter Haug has had a very productive year and the Dragons are a very dangerous low seed that has been able to play with teams and stay close in most games and could pull a shocker and make a section 5A run.

Section Scary- Princeton has shown the ability to surprise some teams as evidenced with their win over ranked Thief River Falls and tie with Monicello during the year. If the Tigers are gonna do damage in the playoffs they will need their Trio of Juniors Lane Olson & Brody Kok up front and Dominic Patnode on the blueline to have a big postseason as they have led the way all year and this is a very scary 6 seed for the Flyers to face third time.

The Rest- Sauk Rapids has gotten very good production out of their trio of Seniors Teagan Dodge & Nick Anderson along with Sophomore Elijah Fitch that gives the Storm some serious scoring punch to put a scare into teams. Becker Big Lake has had their best year in program history as Seniors Brayden Graning & Jase Tobako and Sophomore Tate Spilde have all put up huge numbers to allow the Eagles to compete more and they have upsets over Pine City and River Lakes to show they should not be overlooked. Mora/Milaca has also had a very solid year and they get most of their offense from the back end as Senior Trenton Fore & Junior Charlie Kritzeck lead the team in scoring as defenseman not something you see much of but it has worked well for the Mustangs.

[ClassAGuy]

Section 5A QF Games
#1 St Cloud Cathedral 10 #8 Becker/Big Lake 0
#4 River Lakes 4 #5 Pine City 3
#3 Little Falls 7 #6 Princeton 2
#2 Monticello 3 #7 Sauk Rapids 0

Section 5A SF Games
#1 St Cloud Cathedral 6 #4 River Lakes 1
#2 Monticello 3 #3 Little Falls 2 3OT