Section 3A 2022-23

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Rankings (1/22/23)
1- New Ulm (13-2-1)
2- Mankato East (5-10-0)
3- Luverne (9-5-1)
4- Mankato West (5-9-1)
5- Marshall (6-6-1)
6- Windom (7-8-0)
7- Fairmont (4-10-0)
8- Minnesota River (7-9-0)
9- Worthington (1-10-0)
10- Redwood Valley (0-15-0)

Section 3A Outlook- New Ulm picked up two more Section 3A wins over Minnesota River & Redwood Valley. Mankato East decided to take the week off in their weird schedule and Mankato West lost in non Section 3A action. Luverne had a big three win week including a win over Fairmont. Windom got a big Section 3A win over Worthington and Marshall like the Cougars took the week off.

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A PageStat Rankings (1/21/23)
1 NEW ULM 13 2 1 0.844 99 26 14.89
2 MANKATO EAST 5 10 0 0.333 49 57 14.66
3 LUVERNE 9 5 1 0.633 79 34 13.89
4 MANKATO WEST 5 9 1 0.367 41 54 12.88
5 MARSHALL_ 6 8 1 0.433 59 48 11.93
6 MINNESOTA RIVER 7 9 0 0.438 62 64 10.71
7 WINDOM 7 8 0 0.467 65 63 10.69
8 FAIRMONT 4 10 0 0.286 47 89 8.24
9 REDWOOD VALLEY 0 14 0 0.000 18 98 5.97
10 WORTHINGTON 1 10 0 0.091 23 87 5.26

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Week #10 Scores

Monday January 23
New Ulm 4 Windom 3

Tuesday January 24
Luverne 11 Worthington 1
Hutchinson 6 Marshall 1
New Ulm 7 Fairmont 1
Mankato West 5 Austin 2
Northfield 8 Mankato East 3
Waseca 8 Redwood Valley 0

Thursday January 26
Marshall 6 Worthington 1
New Ulm 3 Luverne 1
Minnesota River 4 Rochester Lourdes 3 OT
Mankato West 2 Owatonna 2

Friday January 27
Fairmont 4 Redwood Valley 2
Marshall 7 Waseca 2

Saturday January 28
Luverne 6 Windom 5
Minnesota River 3 Marshall 2
Mankato East 6 Red Wing 0
Winona 8 Fairmont 1
Morris/Benson Area 8 Worthington 1

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Rankings (1/29/23)
1- New Ulm (16-2-1)
2- Mankato East (6-11-0)
3- Luverne (11-6-1)
4- Mankato West (6-9-2)
5- Minnesota River (9-9-0)
6- Marshall (8-10-1)
7- Windom (7-10-0)
8- Fairmont (5-12-0)
9- Worthington (1-13-0)
10- Redwood Valley (0-16-0)

Section 3A Outlook- New Ulm locked up the #1 seed and picked up wins over Section 3A Windom, Fairmont & Luverne. Mankato East and Mankato West both had mixed results in Big 9 Conference action. Minnesota River got a big head to head 3A win over Marshall. Worthington & Redwood Valley continue to struggle as the season winds down.

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Week #11 Scores

Tuesday January 31
Rochester John Marshall 3 Windom 2 OT
Minnesota River 2 Waseca 1
Mankato East 5 Mankato West 1
Marshall 8 Fairmont 2
Austin 11 Worthington 1
Luverne 7 Redwood Valley 0
New Um 5 Rochester Lourdes 3

Thursday February 2nd
Faribault 6 Mankato West 5
Rochester Century 12 Mankato East 1
Fairmont 6 Waseca 3
Luverne 4 Marshall 2
Worthington 6 Redwood Valley 2

Friday February 3rd
New Ulm 3 Windom 2
Rochester Lourdes 8 Fairmont 2

Saturday February 4th
New Ulm 6 Mound Westonka 1
Albert Lea 2 Mankato West 2 OT
Luverne 7 Morris Benson 4
Willmar 7 Redwood Valley 0
Marshall 7 Minnesota River 1
Worthington 7 Breckenridge/Wahpeton 2

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Rankings (2/5/23)
1- New Ulm (19-2-1)
2- Luverne (14-6-1)
3- Mankato East (7-12-0)
4- Mankato West (6-11-3)
5- Marshall (10-11-1)
6- Windom (7-12-0)
7- Minnesota River (10-10-0)
8- Fairmont (6-14-0)
9- Worthington (3-14-0)
10- Redwood Valley (0-19-0)

Section 3A Outlook- New Ulm is a lock for the #1 seed and is unbeaten in 3A. Luverne only 3A losses to the Eagles and have beaten everyone else for the 2 seed. Mankato East & Mankato West are at the bottom of the Big 9 Conference and only each other and both own a win over Minnesota River and play no one else in 3A for the 3 and 4 seed. Marshall won the second meeting of both splits over the Eagles & Bulldogs for the 5 seed. Windom has beaten the Bulldogs head to head for the 6 seed. Fairmont has beaten both Worthington & Redwood Valley to be seed over them.

[elliott70]

Section 3A Standings
Seed Team Section Overall
New Ulm 14-0-0 19-2-1
Luverne 8-2-0 14-6-1
Mankato East/Loyola 3-0-0 7-12-0
Minnesota River 5-7-0 10-10-0
Marshall 7-6-0 10-11-1
Windom Area 5-4-0 7-12-0
Mankato West 1-2-0 6-12-2
Fairmont 4-6-0 6-14-0
Worthington 2-9-0 3-14-0
Redwood Valley 0-13-0 0-19-0

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Standings
Seed Team Section Overall
New Ulm 14-0-0 19-2-1
Luverne 8-2-0 14-6-1
Mankato East/Loyola 3-0-0 7-12-0
Minnesota River 5-7-0 10-10-0
Marshall 7-6-0 10-11-1
Windom Area 5-4-0 7-12-0
Mankato West 1-2-0 6-12-2
Fairmont 4-6-0 6-14-0
Worthington 2-9-0 3-14-0
Redwood Valley 0-13-0 0-19-0

Mankato West Beat MN River head to head 4-1
Marshall beat MN River in the more important 2nd match up yesterday 7-1

Take into account those games which coaches will in seeding vote and again you get pretty much What I have above.

I wont be shocked to Mankato East get the 2 seed due to playing a tougher schedule either.

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A PageStat Rankings (2/5/23)
1 NEW ULM 19 2 1 0.886 127 37 14.71
2 MANKATO EAST 7 12 0 0.368 64 78 14.41
3 LUVERNE 14 6 1 0.690 115 50 13.98
4 MANKATO WEST 6 11 3 0.375 57 71 13.12
5 MARSHALL_ 10 11 1 0.477 92 67 12.47
6 WINDOM 7 12 0 0.368 77 79 11.63
7 MINNESOTA RIVER 10 10 0 0.500 72 77 10.73
8 FAIRMONT 6 14 0 0.300 64 125 8.22
9 WORTHINGTON 3 14 0 0.176 40 127 6.19
10 REDWOOD VALLEY 0 19 0 0.000 22 130 5.19

Just flipped Luverne and Mankato East which I could see happening otherwise identical to mine

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Week #12 Scores

Monday February 6th
Windom 7 Redwood Valley 0

Tuesday February 7th
Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato 2 New Ulm 1
Luverne 10 Fairmont 3
Marshall 11 Worthington 0
Mankato East 3 Winona 1
Dodge County 5 Mankato West 1
New Prague 8 Minnesota River 1

Thursday February 9th
New Ulm 6 Waseca 1
Windom 3 Fairmont 2
Owatonna 2 Mankato East 1

Friday February 10th
Luverne 4 Minnesota River 3
Winona 8 Worthington 0

Saturday February 11th
Luverne 4 Minnesota River 0
La Crescent 9 Worthington 1
Mankato West 7 Red Wing 0
Northfield 8 Mankato East 0

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Rankings (2/12/23)
1- New Ulm (20-3-1)
2- Luverne (17-6-1)
3- Mankato East (8-14-0)
4- Mankato West (7-12-3)
5- Marshall (11-11-1)
6- Windom (9-12-0)
7- Minnesota River (10-13-0)
8- Fairmont (6-16-0)
9- Worthington (3-17-0)
10- Redwood Valley (0-20-0)

Section 3A Team Resumes -
New Ulm- Section 3A Record (14-0-0) PageStat Rank (1st out of 10 ) QRF (1st out of 10 )
3A Wins- Luverne x2, Marshall x2, Windom x2 Fairmont x2, MN River x2, Worthington x2, RWV x2 3A Losses- None
Section 3A Games Remaining- None

Section 3A Record (11-2-0) PageStat Rank (3rd out of 10 ) QRF (2nd out of 10 )
3A Wins- Marshall x2, Windom, Fairmont x2, MN River x2, Worthington x2, RWV x2 3A Losses- New Ulm x 2
Section 3A Games Remaining- Windom

Mankato East- Section 3A Record (3-0-0) PageStat Rank (2nd out of 10 ) QRF (3rd out of 10 )
3A Wins- Mankato West x2, MN River 3A Losses- None
Section 3A Games Remaining- None

Mankato West- Section 3A Record (1-2-0) PageStat Rank (4th out of 10 ) QRF (6th out of 10 )
3A Wins- MN River 3A Losses- Mankato West x2
Section 3A Games Remaining- None

Marshall- Section 3A Record (8-6-0) PageStat Rank (5th out of 10 ) QRF (4th out of 10 )
3A Wins- MN River, Windom, RWV x2, Worthington x2, Fairmont x2 3A Losses- New Ulm x2, Luverne x2, MN River Windom
Section 3A Games Remaining- None

Windom- Section 3A Record (7-4-0) PageStat Rank (6th out of 10 ) QRF (7th out of 10 )
3A Wins- MN River, Marshall, RWV x2, Worthington, Fairmont x2 3A Losses- New Ulm x2, Luverne, Marshall
Section 3A Games Remaining- Minnesota River, Worthington, Luverne

Minnesota River- Section 3A Record (5-9-0) PageStat Rank (7th out of 10 ) QRF (5th out of 10 )
3A Wins- Marshall, RWV x2, Worthington x2 3A Losses- New Ulm x2, MW, ME, Windom, Marshall, Fairmont, Luverne x2
Section 3A Games Remaining- Windom and Fairmont

Fairmont- Section 3A Record (4-8-0) PageStat Rank (8th out of 10 ) QRF (8th out of 10 )
3A Wins- MN River, RWV x2, Worthington 3A Losses- New Ulm x2, Luverne x2, Windom x2, Marshall x2
Section 3A Games Remaining- Worthington and Minnesota River

Worthington- Section 3A Record (2-10-0) PageStat Rank (9th out of 10 ) QRF (9th out of 10 )
3A Wins- RWV x2 3A Losses- New Ulm x2, Luverne x2, Marshall x2 MN River x2 Windom & Fairmont
Section 3A Games Remaining- Windom and Fairmont

Redwood Valley- Section 3A Record (0-14-0) PageStat Rank (10th out of 10 ) QRF (10th out of 10 )
3A Wins- None 3A Losses- New Ulm x2, Luverne x2, Marshall x2 MN River x2 Windom x2, Fairmont x2, Worthington x2
Section 3A Games Remaining- None

Section 3A Seeding Outlook- New Ulm is the lock for the #1 seed as they are unbeaten in Section 3A. The #2 and the # 3 seed is a toss up but I will give Luverne the nod due to playing more Section 3A games than Mankato East. Seeds #4 through #5 looks like Mankato West at four with the tougher schedule and head to head win over Minnesota River. Marshall gets the nod at 5 winning the 2nd games of the season series splits with Windom and the Bulldogs who will play this week and second time to decide the #6 and #7 seed. Fairmont is #8 with wins over Worthington & Redwood Valley who are #9 and #10 seeds.

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Scores Week #13

Monday February 13th
Minnesota River 3 Windom 2
Litchfield Dassel Cokato 9 Marhsall 1

Tuesday February 14th
Windom 7 Worthington 0
Totino Grace 4 Mankato West 1
Albert Lea 3 Mankato East 0
Austin 3 Fairmont 2
Prairie Centre 4 Redwood Valley 0
New Ulm 2 Hopkins 1

Thursday February 16th
Luverne 5 Windom 3
Rochester Mayo 8 Mankato West 1
Minnesota River 5 Fairmont 1

Friday February 18th
Waseca 6 Marshall 4
Fairmont 9 Worthington 3
Mankato East 5 Hutchinson 2

[ClassAGuy]

Official Section 3A Seeds:
1. New Ulm
2. Luverne
3. Mankato East
4. Mankato West
5. Marshall
6. Minnesota River
7. Windom
8. Fairmont
9. Worthington
10. Redwood Valley

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Seeds
1- New Ulm (21-3-1)
2- Luverne (18-6-1)
3- Mankato East (10-15-0)
4- Mankato West (7-15-3)
5- Marshall (11-13-1)
6- Minnesota River (12-13-0)
7- Windom (10-14-0)
8- Fairmont (7-17-0)
9- Worthington (3-19-0)
10- Redwood Valley (0-21-0)

Section 3A Playoff Preview- Section 3A got a face lift two years ago when the MSHSL realigned the maps and added in Minnesota River and the Mankato schools. Last year the Cougars of Mankato East took advantage of their new home as they battled through a tougher regular season schedule then the majority of the 3A teams and came into the playoffs slightly above .500 at (14-10-1) and settled for the #2 seed. They showed the tests of regular season seemed to pay off as they breezed through the Section 3A tournament outscoring their opponents 19-1 winning every game by 6 goals. That included routing the #1 seed New Ulm in the section final getting to play in their backyard at Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center in downtown Mankato as the lower seed. Will we see that same story this winter? Something feels different as the Cougars are well below .500 and have really struggled filling the void left by their senior goaltender last year. New Ulm seems hungry and has been fantastic vs 3A teams, however they have shown some signs of tripping up vs teams outside the section. The games will be back at Gustavus where the Eagles have had a good history of success. Will we see another Cougars walk through 3A in year number two or is this the New Ulm group ready to punch its first ticket to state since 2019?

The Favorite- New Ulm the Eagles come flying into the 3A playoffs fresh off of a 20 win regular season, the majority of which came at the expense of Section 3A teams. In the nets Jr. Bryer Hoffmann has been very steady and played his best vs the top competition within their schedule. On the blueline Senior Captain Jack Albrecht & Dawson Kraus have been very productive and steady defenders. Meanwhile, up front their top line is centered by Senior Captain Blake Soukup and Junior Snipers Austin Uecker & Kaden Larson both of whom have 20 plus goals on the year. Add in Sr. Nick Zins & Jr. Bryer Lang who each have 30 plus points of their own the Eagles would have what appears to be the top team in Section 3A.

The Challenger- The top contender is the Defending 3A Champions Mankato East but the Cougars have struggled throughout the regular season as finding a starter in net has been a question mark throughout the winter. They do still have a line up filled with talent though as Seniors Shae Gavin & Andrew Bastian have led the charge and are noticeable whenever they are on the ice. They do have depth as on the blueline Sr. Alexander Morgan & 9th grader Luke Lebens have both played well and up front Sr. Zach Lebens & Jr. Christian Theuninck has added to the offensive depth. While the record is not pretty and some games have gotten out of hand this winter, this still appears to be a team ready to make a good run in Section 3A and defend their title.

The Dark Horses- Luverne has rolled off a bunch of late season wins and is having another good year in the deep southwest. Led upfront by Sr. Brock Behrend & Jr’s Pattrick Kroski, Owen Sudenga, Elliot Domagala and up and coming 9th grader Maddux Domagala the scoring is there add in Sophomore blueliner Blaik Bork who has chipped over 30 points from the back end and the Cards can definitely roll with anyone in 3A. They have been hot down the stretch but seem unable to get past the New Ulm mountain could playoff time be their movement to shine as they have beaten everyone else who beat them earlier in the year during their good stretch of hockey heading into the playoffs.

Mankato West could be another dark horse team to make a serious run in Section 3A. The Scarlets record is not pretty but again like the Cougars they play a tougher schedule than most in 3A and coil make a run. 9th grade goalie Mason Schreiber has improved steadily throughout the year and up front Sr. Maddox Langworthy, Soph. Jaeger Zimmerman, Jr. Gage Schmidt give Mankato West some good scoring punch and this team has shown some better results vs good teams down the stretch including a tie with Albert Lea the 2nd time around to be a really good dark horse pick in 3A.

Section Scaries- Windom appears to be a serious section scary team as they have played both New Ulm and Luverne to one goal games in their many contests this year. Senior speedster Brady Espenson is one of the Section best players and Windom could be a scary first round opponent. Marshall is another 3A team that could be a scary opponent as they two have pushed New Ulm and Luverne this winter. The Tigers Junior defenseman Talan Plante and forwards Sr Sean Nwaiga & Soph. Owen Renslow lead the way for a Marshall team that could have an upset or two within them. Minnesota River is another team to keep an eye on as they have had some closer results and played a good non Big South Schedule and you could easily see the Bulldogs pull off a big 1st round upset.

The Rest- Worthington has struggled but gotten a good year from Junior Easton Newman. Fairmont the Cardinals have gotten good years from Seniors Brock Lutterman & Nate Rakness. Redwood Valley has battled every night but unfortunately been unable to get a win in the regular season.

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Playoffs 2023

Play In Games (2/20/23)
#7 seed Windom 6 #10 seed Redwood Valley 0 Final
Windom Ice Arena, Windom

#8 seed Fairmont 7 #9 seed Worthington 5 Final
Martin County Arena, Fairmont

Windom advances to play #2 seed Luverne
Fairmont advances to play #1 seed New Ulm

[ClassAGuy]

3A Playoff Recap #1

Section 3A- #7 seed Windom was able to shutout #10 seed Redwood Valley in a game where they put up over 60 shots. Senior Brady Espenson was the star of the game as he had a big 5 point night. The Eagles will now head to #2 seed Luverne who they have had two tight games with recently losing 6-5 & 5-3 which would make one expect a good quarterfinal game. #8 seed Fairmont survived a good push from #9 seed Worthington as the Trojans battle back to take the third period 5-4 lead. However, Junior Nate Rakness scored two third period powerplay goals and the Cardinals were able to win not head to #1 seed New Ulm.

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Playoffs
Friday February 24th
Section 3A Quarterfinals
#1 New Ulm 7 #8 Fairmont 0
#4 Mankato West 5 #5 Marshall 4 OT
#2 Luverne 5 #7 Windom 2
#3 Mankato East 6 #6 Minnesota River 2

Section 3A- #1 seed New Ulm scored three goals a piece in each of the 1st two periods as they rolled past #8 seed Fairmont. Eagles Goaltender Junior Bryer Hoffman picked up the shutout in net and they move into the 3A Semifinals to take on #4 seed Mankato West who pulled a stunning comeback over #5 seed Marshall. In game they trailed 4-2 with under 4 minutes left in the game the Scarlets Junior Gage Schmidt played the hero and scored two goals to tie it and then assisted the game winner in OT to Junior Derek Stierlen who buried the winner on the powerplay to move into the 3A Semifinals. In the other side of the bracket #2 seed Luverne needed a big third period to finally put away a pesky #7 seed Windom. Cards Senior Brock Behrend 2 goal night led the way as Lueverne will head into the Section 3A Semifinals where they will get a rematch from last year when they meet #3 seed Mankato East in the semis again who ended their season last year. The Cougars took down #6 seed Minnesota River 6-2 as they will look to continue to defend their 3A Championship when they head to St Peter on Monday night,

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Playoff Scores
Monday February 27th
Section 3A Semifinals
#1 New Ulm 4 #4 Mankato West 3
#2 Luverne 6 #3 Mankato East 2

Section 3A Playoffs Recaps
#1 seed New Ulm 4 #4 seed Mankato West 3
#1 seed New Ulm won a very physical hockey game over an old rival #4 seed Mankato West. The Eagles were very good on the powerplay as they scored three goals with the man advantage which proved to be the difference. Junior Kaden Larson led the way with a two goal night and New Ulm will head back to the Section 3A Final where they will take on their rivals from the Big South Conference Wednesday Night at Lund Center at GAC.

#2 seed Luverne 6 #3 seed Mankato East 2
#2 seed Luverne got revenge for their Section 3A semifinal loss to the #3 seed Mankato East who ended their season a year ago by turning the tables on the Cougars and ended their season this winter. Mankato East never led but was able to get the game tied after 2 periods behind the 2 goal effort of Senior Shae Gavin. However, it was all Cards in the third period as they scored four unanswered goals as Senior Brock Behrend led the way with a hat trick and Luverne advances to their first Section 3A Final since 2018.