Alexandria at Sartell/Sauk Rapids
7:15 p.m., Friday, Nov. 13

Last season, both meetings between Alexandria and Sartell/Sauk Rapids required overtime. The first ended in a 1-1 tie while the Storm‘N’Sabres came away with a 2-1 win in the second.

Sartell/Sauk Rapids won the Central Lakes Conference with a 10-0-2 mark and finished with a 17-6-3 overall record. Alexandria finished 18-10-1 overall and third in the league with a 7-4-1 mark.

The Cardinals captured their third consecutive Class 1A, Section 6 title with a 3-1 win over Detroit Lakes in the championship game and went on to claim the state consolation championship with a 1-0 win over Hibbing/Chisholm.

No. 12-1A Alexandria, which graduated five players, relied on balanced scoring last year as seven players finished the season with seven or more goals. Defender Lauren Niska led the team with 12 goals and 11 assists. Mari Wosepka (10G, 9A), Hanah Hansen (8G, 13A) and Kristin Trosvig (7G, 8A) are among the top returning scorers.

Three Cardinals scored two goals in a 9-2 win over North Metro on Nov. 7.

Senior forward Amanda Fleming returns after a 13-goal, 24-assist season for the Storm‘N’Sabres, and so does senior goalie Clare Minnerath, who went 16-6-3 with four shutouts and recorded a 1.86 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage last year.

The Sartell/Sauk Rapids graduated Olivia Stockinger (15G, 14A) and Sarah Kaschmitter (13G, 15A), who were the only other players to reach double figures in goals last year. The Storm‘N’Sabres finished with a 17-6-3 record before falling to Moorhead 2-0 in the Class 2A, Section 8 quarterfinals.