Advertisement

High School Hockey Focus: Dodge County's Schubert, La Crescent's Farrell have standout weeks

jason feldman, post-bulletin, rochester, minn.
·10 min read

Jan. 24—The girls and boys hockey seasons have hit their home stretch.

Section playoffs begin in just two weeks for the girls, and two weeks after that for the boys.

Here's a look at the top individual performances of the past week, Power Rankings for boys and girls teams in southeastern Minnesota, and more, in the High School Hockey Focus.

GIRLS

3. Kate Holtz, Austin: The Packers went 1-2-0 last week, but their senior and leading scorer did her best to keep them in all three games. Holtz had a goal and an assist in a 3-2 win at Worthington last Tuesday, followed by two assists in a 5-2 loss at Albert Lea, and two goals in a 5-2 loss at Mayo. She leads the team with 23 goals — including four game winners — and 40 points.

2. Alivia Haakenson, Mayo: The Spartans' sophomore goalie stopped 70 of 74 shots in back-to-back starts last week. Playing in her first game in more than three weeks, she made 42 saves in a narrow 2-1 OT loss at Chippewa Falls on Thursday. Haakenson helped Mayo bounce back on Saturday, stopping 28 shots in a 5-2 win against Austin.

1. Lyndi Schubert, Dodge County: The senior forward and College of St. Scholastica commit is averaging nearly a point per game this season (19 points in 20 games). She recorded five points as Dodge County split two games last week — an assist in a loss to Lakeville South on Tuesday, and a goal and three assists in a 6-2 win at Luverne on Saturday.

----BOYS

3. Ryan Dripps, F, Mayo: The Spartans junior had two solid games last week, recording a goal and an assist in a tightly played 3-2 loss to Section 1AA rival Hastings. Dripps then added a goal in Mayo's 9-3 win against Century on Thursday.

2. Matt Donovan, Dodge County: The senior center missed most of the first half of the season with injuries and recovering from Kasson-Mantorville's run to the Class AAAA state football championship game. He has looked 100% since his return. He totaled seven points (3-4—7) in wins against Waseca, St. Cloud Cathedral and Luverne last week.

1. Wyatt Farrell, La Crescent-Hokah: Farrell jumped into the top four in the state in goals scored last week, when he recorded five goals and seven points in two games. Farrell — who has 30 goals and 40 points in 14 games for the 8-5-1 Lancers — had a hat trick and an assist in a 4-4 tie against Tomahawk/Sparta (Wis.) last Tuesday, then he had two goals and an assist in a 10-2 win against Viroqua (Wis.) on Thursday. Farrell has four hat tricks and 11 multi-goal performances in 14 games this season.

(Teams from the Big Nine Conference, Section 1A and local independents are considered for the southeastern Minnesota Power Rankings.)

GIRLS

1. Northfield (12-3-3): The Raiders get the No. 1 spot due to an early season win against No. 4-ranked Lakeville South — South's only loss this season — and splitting two games against Lakeville North. Northfield tied Owatonna on Jan. 13 and have a significant four-game stretch beginning today at Mankato East, followed by a game at Albert Lea on Thursday, a home game against Mayo on Saturday, then a matchup at Dodge County on Feb. 2.

2. Dodge County (10-10-0): The Wildcats are 10-5-0 since a 0-5-0 start to the season. They lost by just one goal to Section 1AA rival Lakeville North and they led No. 4-ranked Lakeville South after two periods last week before South had a big third period and won 8-3. Goalie Ida Huber has six shutouts this season and four Wildcats average at least a point per game. Senior McKenzie Rich leads the way offensively, with 19 goals and 30 total points. She has nine points in the past five games.

3. Owatonna (10-7-2): The Huskies have won two in a row — against Mankato East (5-2) and Century/JM (7-0) — to break out of a slump in which they went 1-6-2 over a nine-game stretch. They have defeated Mankato East twice, tied Northfield and hold wins over Albert Lea and Austin. Owatonna has two games remaining against Rochester Mayo, and one each against Dodge County and Northfield. Those games will have a big affect on Section 1AA playoff seeding. Three double-digit goal scorers lead the Owatonna attack: Samantha Bogen (11), Ezra Oien (10) and Olivia Herzog (10).

4. Mankato East (15-5-0): The Cougars still have an outside chance at the Big Nine title, but two losses to Owatonna and one to Northfield have made a conference championship a long shot. East — which has won 10 of its last 11 — gets another crack at Northfield on Tuesday in Mankato. The Cougars are led by the Big Nine's top goal scorer, McKenzie Keller (27).

5. Albert Lea (10-8-1): The Tigers swept their two-game series against rival Austin this season — including a 5-2 win at home last Thursday — and appear to be the favorite to win Section 1A. They have big-game experience, having played in the Section 1A final a year ago, when they suffered a narrow 3-2 loss to Lourdes. Albert Lea has six players with double-digit points, led by seventh-grader Morgan Goskeson, who has taken the Big Nine by storm as a varsity rookie (20-3—23).

PUC (Programs Under Consideration): 6. Mayo (8-11-0); 7. Austin High (9-9-0).

----BOYS

1. Mayo (9-3-3): The Spartans get the top spot this week because of their depth and their goaltending. Tate Cothern and Nick Weick are a 1-2 netminding punch that most teams would love to have. Mayo played to a tie at Northfield and holds quality wins against Mankato East, Century and Fargo (N.D.) South/Shanley, the No. 3-ranked team in North Dakota. Junior forward Sam Jacobson (12-11—23) leads an offense that has 15 players with 5 or more points. Mayo is unbeaten in Big Nine Conference play (4-0-2).

2. Northfield (9-4-1): The Raiders are the only team beside Mayo to not have lost a Big Nine game this season (7-0-1). Northfield has struggled in non-conference play, though, losing to three-win Farmington, and losing by wide margins against Holy Angels and Hastings. Northfield has one of the most dangerous scorers in the Big Nine and Section 1A, Spencer Klotz (18-29—47), who is averaging 3.36 points per game and had a whopping six points in a 7-0 win at Winona on Saturday.

3. Mankato East (11-5-0): The Cougars have lost to both Mayo and Century, but hold a good win over Dodge County. East is still in the mix for the Big Nine championship but it'll need to make hay over the next month when it plays Mayo and Century again, and faces Northfield twice.

4. Dodge County (11-6-0): The Wildcats appear to be past their run of injuries that they entered the season with. Back at full strength, they have won four consecutive games, including an impressive 5-1 win against St. Cloud Cathedral, the No. 13-ranked team in the state in Class A. Senior defenseman Easton Hammill (10-9—19) leads the way on the blue line, while senior Gavin Giesler (9-10—19) and sophomore forwards Gryffon Funke (11-12—23) and Cooper Jacobson (5-7—12, missed three weeks with an arm injury) are a handful up front. The return of senior center Matt Donovan has added another gear to the Wildcats' attack.

5. Lourdes (12-5-0): The Eagles earn the No. 5 spot in our rankings because of their play over the past three weeks. Since being shut out in back-to-back games to close the Kiwanis Festival on Dec. 29 and 30, Lourdes has gone 5-2-0 and allowed a total of nine goals in that seven-game streatch. Its only losses in that stretch were by one goal to Dodge County (3-2) and a 3-1 loss to Windom that included an empty-net goal.

PUC (Programs Under Consideration): 6. Century (6-7-0), 7. Albert Lea (11-3-0), 8. New Prague (6-6-1).

GIRLS

—Mollie Koch, Fr., F, Dodge County: Koch recorded just one point — an assist — at the varsity level a year ago, but she has fit right in at that level this season. She is second on the Wildcats in assists (12) and third on the team in points (20). Koch has been a very effective even-strength player, as seven of her goals and 16 of her points have come during five-on-five play.

----BOYS

—Jayden Veney, Soph., D, John Marshall: A smooth-skating defenseman with great size (6-feet-7), Veney can control the game from the blue line. He has a heavy shot and isn't afraid to use it. Multiple local coaches gave told the PB that Veney's combination of size, speed and skating ability will draw some heavy looks from Division I college scouts.

GIRLS

—.938: Northfield goalie Maggie Malecha ranks 10th in the state in save percentage. She's played every minute in goal for 11-3-3 Raiders and is 21st in the state with a 1.80 goals-against average.

—7: Power-play goals scored by Dodge County senior McKenzie Rich this season, tied for the fourth-most in the state. Rich has 17 goals and 27 points in 19 games.

—12: Games this season — out of 17 — in which Austin High star forward Kate Holtz has recorded more than one point. Holtz has a team-leading 21 goals and 38 points, six multi-goal games and three hat tricks this season.

----BOYS

—10: Number of Rochester Mayo players who average a half-point per game or better. Sam Jacobson leads a balanced lineup with 12 goals and 23 points.

—19: Goals by Lourdes senior Matthew Mahoney, which ranks tied for 18th in the state as of Saturday. He has 24 total points this season, including nine points in the past five games.

—20: Points in the past five games for Northfield's Spencer Klotz, who leads the Big Nine with 47 points this season. He has recorded 5, 4, 4 and 6 points in the last four games.

GIRLS

—Owatonna at Dodge County (7 p.m., Friday): A matchup that could affect Section 1AA playoff seedings — and a good late-season measuring stick for both teams — is set for Friday night in Kasson. Owatonna enters the week 10-7-2 and has won two straight after a 1-6-2 stretch. Dodge County is 10-10-0 to start the week and can help itself in terms of playoff seeding with a win in this game, as well as a strong showing next Wednesday, Feb. 2, against Northfield.

BOYS

—Northfield at Mayo (7:15 p.m., Saturday): Fifty-nine minutes wasn't enough to settle the first meeting of the season between two of the Big Nine's best, as they played to a 3-3 draw at Northfield on Jan. 4. Neither team has lost to a conference opponent yet — Mayo is 4-0-2, Northfield 7-0-1.

—Lourdes at St. Cloud Cathedral (2:15 p.m., Saturday): After being shut out twice at the Kiwanis Festival, Lourdes (12-5-0) has found its game again since the calendar flipped to January. It's 5-2-0 this month and has a chance to earn another confidence-boosting victory on Saturday when it plays at No. 13-ranked Cathedral (9-9-0).