MN high school girls hockey

Tracy Cassano will coach in her 500th career game Tuesday when her Minnetonka girls hockey team hosts Centennial/Spring Lake Park.

This career milestone, however, won't come with any uncertainty, unlink an earlier one.

Mike Cassano, Tracy's husband and the Skippers assistant coach, famously erred in 2021 by declaring his wife's 200th career victory. He was short by two victories.

To avoid missing the mark this time, Cassano turned to the team's "analytical guy — Troy Iverson —  to verify the 500th game.

Cassano remains an important figure in Minnesota hockey coaching ranks. She was the state's third female hockey coach to reach the 200-victory plateau behind Maple Grove's Amber Hegland and Andover's Melissa Volk.

Cassano is the first female head coach to direct three different girls hockey programs to the state tournament. She coached for five seasons at Rosemount and led the Irish to the 2011 state tournament. After the season, Cassano left for a two-year stint with Chaska/Chanhassen. Then she went to Burnsville where, in her first season, she led the Blaze to the state tournament and was named the 2014 Minnesota Girls’ Hockey State AA coach of the year.

She has Minnetonka, state tournament qualifiers for the past three seasons, off to a 3-0 start this season. She has 284 career victories.

Cassano (formerly Engstrom) helped the University of Minnesota to the American Women's College Hockey Alliance championship in 2000. She was a two-time captain of the Gophers.