Mahtomedi last met South St. Paul in the Class 1A, Section 4 semifinals a season ago. The game ended in a 5-3 victory for the Packers, who put away the Zephyrs with a late empty-net goal.
On Tuesday, these rivals will go another round — this time in a regular-season matchup — at Doug Woog Arena in South St. Paul.
Mahtomedi (7-3-1, 3-1-1) is coming off a 5-1 loss to Hill-Murray last Friday and aims to build momentum by getting a little payback against the program that booted them from the postseason.
Abby Hansen is the No. 9-1A Zephyrs’ leader on offense, with 11 goals in 11 games.
South St. Paul (5-4-2, 2-0-1) has struggled against top competition this season, failing to record a victory in matchups against four ranked teams — No. 3-1A Proctor/ Hermantown (5-1 loss on Nov. 9), No. 9-4A Mound Westonka (3-2 loss on Nov. 20), No. 1-1A Warroad (1-0 loss on Dec. 7) and No. 10-2A Hill-Murray (1-1 tie on Dec. 15).
Most opponents of the No. 5-1A Packers have found it difficult this season to get pucks past goalie Delaney Norman. In 11 games, the eighth-grader has a 1.08 goals-against average.