Section 6A Final (2/29/24)- #1 Alexandria vs #2 Northern Lakes
Moderators: Mitch Hawker, east hockey, karl(east)
Section 6A Final (2/29/24)- #1 Alexandria vs #2 Northern Lakes
Alex won the 2 regular season meeting by 3 goals a piece both times. Will Alex 3 peat in 6A or can Northern Lakes pull the upset and get new blood to state in 6A?
Re: Section 6A Final (2/29/24)- #1 Alexandria vs #2 Northern Lakes
My head says Alexandria wins, but my heart hopes NL wins. I do think they are capable.
Re: Section 6A Final (2/29/24)- #1 Alexandria vs #2 Northern Lakes
#1 seed Alexandria Cardinals (17-9-1)
Alexandria enters the 6A Final looking for their 3rd straight section championship. The Cards have played well down the stretch as they have now won 13 of their last 15 games. They have not yet been scored on in the playoffs and they are unbeaten vs 6A teams on the year and they now will be facing a Lightning team that they beat twice during the year at the MAC, a place they are very familiar playing at in a game they have had lots of success in recently.
Alex Leaders- Seniors #8 Gavin Olson (19-15-34 pts), #21 Evan Anderson (15-17-32 pts) & #3 Leonard Kompelien (13-18-31 pts) have led the way up front and have plenty of playoff experience. Seniors #2 Jack Lamski (4-23-27 pts) & #4 Gage Castle (5-7-12 pts) are the leaders of the blueline as they both have lots of big game experience under their belt as well.
Alex Goalie- Senior #1 Brady Metcalf (13-8-1) 2.08 GAA .920 SV% has done a nice job stepping into the starting role this year in net. He has been especially good so far in the 6A teams going (4-0-0) on the year only allowing 6 goals but he did not start the 2nd game vs the Lightning.
Alex Annual 2nd Half Push- Alexandria, as they tend to always do, has had a fantastic 2nd half push and they are now (13-2-0) in their last 15 games. The youngsters on this team are big reason for this as Sophomores #10 Brody Berg (10-9-19 pts) & #17 Evan Klimek (7-15-22 pts) and 9th grader #25 Grady Olson (8-13-21 pts) up front and Sophomore #15 Niklas Schultz (1-8-9 pts) & 9th grader #18 Grady Suchy (1-4-5 pts) have all stepped up and played well in big roles for this team down the stretch and give the team a promising look towards the future.
Alex Special Teams- The Power Play is at 15.5% and Penalty Kill is at 85.5 %
#2 seed Northern Lakes Lightning (18-9-0)
Northern Lakes enters the 6A Final having played in one previous Section Final in program history before this year. The good news is that they won the previous time and went to State in 2021. Now they will look to take down the two time defending Champ Alex who have been a nemesis to the Lightning as they have been beaten twice by them this year but they are hoping the 3rd time's a charm as they look to knock off the Cards in the game that matters most.
Lightning Leaders- Senior #5 Seniors Taylor Berg (15-13-28 pts) & #17 Logan Verville (13-12-25 pts) and Juniors #24 Drew Paulback (29-20-59 pts) & #9 Jerome Martin (18-21-39 pts) all have been productive this year. On blueline Senior #29 Isaac Peterson (2-16-18 pts) and Junior #25 Wyatt Balmer (2-20-27 pts) have both been outstanding playing different style games.
Lightning Goalie- Senior #35 Nigel DeSanto (13-9-0) 2.97 GAA .894 SV% has a bunch of experience in net as he has been the starter primarily throughout the last 3 years and has played in quite a few big games. When he is on he is tough to beat but he has yet to play his best game vs Alex.
Lightning Strike Offense- Northern Lakes is an explosive offensive team as they are averaging 4.70 goals a game. A deeper look shows that they like to get going early and jump on the opponents quickly as they are outscoring teams 44-19 in the first period. When Northern Lakes is at their best you can usually see it early on as they have a good jump in their step in the opening shifts. That will be something to watch on Thursday as many of these players will be playing in their 1st ever Section Final game so nerves could play a factor early and hinder their normal quick start ability.
Lightning Special Teams- The Power Play is at 17.5% and Penalty Kill is at 83.2 %
Alexandria enters the 6A Final looking for their 3rd straight section championship. The Cards have played well down the stretch as they have now won 13 of their last 15 games. They have not yet been scored on in the playoffs and they are unbeaten vs 6A teams on the year and they now will be facing a Lightning team that they beat twice during the year at the MAC, a place they are very familiar playing at in a game they have had lots of success in recently.
Alex Leaders- Seniors #8 Gavin Olson (19-15-34 pts), #21 Evan Anderson (15-17-32 pts) & #3 Leonard Kompelien (13-18-31 pts) have led the way up front and have plenty of playoff experience. Seniors #2 Jack Lamski (4-23-27 pts) & #4 Gage Castle (5-7-12 pts) are the leaders of the blueline as they both have lots of big game experience under their belt as well.
Alex Goalie- Senior #1 Brady Metcalf (13-8-1) 2.08 GAA .920 SV% has done a nice job stepping into the starting role this year in net. He has been especially good so far in the 6A teams going (4-0-0) on the year only allowing 6 goals but he did not start the 2nd game vs the Lightning.
Alex Annual 2nd Half Push- Alexandria, as they tend to always do, has had a fantastic 2nd half push and they are now (13-2-0) in their last 15 games. The youngsters on this team are big reason for this as Sophomores #10 Brody Berg (10-9-19 pts) & #17 Evan Klimek (7-15-22 pts) and 9th grader #25 Grady Olson (8-13-21 pts) up front and Sophomore #15 Niklas Schultz (1-8-9 pts) & 9th grader #18 Grady Suchy (1-4-5 pts) have all stepped up and played well in big roles for this team down the stretch and give the team a promising look towards the future.
Alex Special Teams- The Power Play is at 15.5% and Penalty Kill is at 85.5 %
#2 seed Northern Lakes Lightning (18-9-0)
Northern Lakes enters the 6A Final having played in one previous Section Final in program history before this year. The good news is that they won the previous time and went to State in 2021. Now they will look to take down the two time defending Champ Alex who have been a nemesis to the Lightning as they have been beaten twice by them this year but they are hoping the 3rd time's a charm as they look to knock off the Cards in the game that matters most.
Lightning Leaders- Senior #5 Seniors Taylor Berg (15-13-28 pts) & #17 Logan Verville (13-12-25 pts) and Juniors #24 Drew Paulback (29-20-59 pts) & #9 Jerome Martin (18-21-39 pts) all have been productive this year. On blueline Senior #29 Isaac Peterson (2-16-18 pts) and Junior #25 Wyatt Balmer (2-20-27 pts) have both been outstanding playing different style games.
Lightning Goalie- Senior #35 Nigel DeSanto (13-9-0) 2.97 GAA .894 SV% has a bunch of experience in net as he has been the starter primarily throughout the last 3 years and has played in quite a few big games. When he is on he is tough to beat but he has yet to play his best game vs Alex.
Lightning Strike Offense- Northern Lakes is an explosive offensive team as they are averaging 4.70 goals a game. A deeper look shows that they like to get going early and jump on the opponents quickly as they are outscoring teams 44-19 in the first period. When Northern Lakes is at their best you can usually see it early on as they have a good jump in their step in the opening shifts. That will be something to watch on Thursday as many of these players will be playing in their 1st ever Section Final game so nerves could play a factor early and hinder their normal quick start ability.
Lightning Special Teams- The Power Play is at 17.5% and Penalty Kill is at 83.2 %
Re: Section 6A Final (2/29/24)- #1 Alexandria vs #2 Northern Lakes
Alex up 1-0 early
Re: Section 6A Final (2/29/24)- #1 Alexandria vs #2 Northern Lakes
Alex up 2-0 2nd period
Re: Section 6A Final (2/29/24)- #1 Alexandria vs #2 Northern Lakes
Alex goes up 3-0 2nd period
Re: Section 6A Final (2/29/24)- #1 Alexandria vs #2 Northern Lakes
Alex up 4-0 2nd Period
Re: Section 6A Final (2/29/24)- #1 Alexandria vs #2 Northern Lakes
Alex up 5-0 now 2nd period
Re: Section 6A Final (2/29/24)- #1 Alexandria vs #2 Northern Lakes
Northern Lakes gets on the board 1-5 3rd period
Re: Section 6A Final (2/29/24)- #1 Alexandria vs #2 Northern Lakes
Alex goes up 6-1 now 3rd period