Scoring first is usually a good sign. For South St. Paul, it almost guarantees victory.

The fourth-seeded Packers scored 2 minutes, 35 seconds into the game Wednesday on their way to defeating fifth seed Luverne 3-1 in the final Class 1A quarterfinal of the night at Xcel Energy Center. The Packers (16-10-2) improved to 16-1-1 this season when they score first. It’s an important factor for a team that isn’t high-scoring, averaging 2.57 goals per game.

“I don’t want to put them in a box, like if we don’t get it, we’re in trouble,” South St. Paul coach Dave Palmquist said. “It just gives our team a little momentum.”

The Packers got off to that fast start Wednesday thanks to an Aliyah Danielson point shot redirected into the net by junior Inga Oelerking. Quite a time for Oelerking’s first career goal.

“Having my first goal in the state tournament was, it felt amazing,” Oelerking said.

South St. Paul doubled its lead on Luverne (23-4-0) later in the first period on a long shot from the other end of the ice by Eva Beck that sneaked by Luverne’s goaltender inside the post.

“You can’t win a game in the first, but you can lose a game in the first,” Luverne coach Tony Sandbulte said.  

The state’s leading scorer, Luverne’s Kamryn Van Batavia, scored her 81st goal of the season early in the second period for a 2-1 game. But about four minutes later, Danielson scored on the rebound to rebuild the two-goal Packers lead.