Moorhead and Roseau Girl’s Hockey Meet Again: Winner Goes to State

FOR THE THIRD STRAIGHT SEASON, THE SPUDS AND RAMS MEET IN THE SECTION 8AA TITLE GAME.

THIEF RIVER FALLS, Minn. (KVRR) –It is a rivalry like few others in Minnesota high school hockey: Moorhead and Roseau. For the third consecutive season, the Spuds and Rams girl’s hockey teams are set to meet in the Section 8AA Championship at the Ralph Engelstad Arena in Thief River Falls, Minnesota.

A season ago, the Rams ended the Spuds season in the Section title game. The season prior to that, it was the Spuds defeating the Rams.

Wednesday night will be the trilogy with one team heading to St. Paul for the State Tournament, and the other’s season coming to an end.

“I think it’s got to be right up there with one of the best [rivalries] in the state for sure,” said Moorhead head coach, Ryan Kraft. “There’s no love lost between teams and it’s going to be one heck of a hockey game. It’s always a hard-fought battle there’s a mutual respect there. Neither team really likes the other team, but at the end of the day, it’s always a fun atmosphere and a fun hockey game to be a part of.”

Roseau head coach Amanda Giles added, “You’re never going to replace the Roseau-Warroad rivalry, but I think we have like a very strong sense of wanting to beat Moorhead every time we play them just because we’ve battled them so hard the last 25 years since we’ve been in existence. So, I think this game means a lot and especially when it’s for the section title.”

During the regular season, these two squads battled twice, with the home team winning each game. On Wednesday, the puck will drop and both teams know they have to play true to themselves and be on their A-game to return home as Section Champs.

“The compete that we’ve brought day in and day out for the past couple weeks… I think we’re finally falling into our game,” said senior goalie Taylor Kressin. “Everyone’s chipping in and it’s been a full team effort and I think that’s what it’s going to take to win on Wednesday.”

Senior forward Olivia Kortan added, “We’ve all grown up playing together. We all have went through this whole season and it’s all what we want. So, if we put it out there, we just have to give it our all and hope for the best.”

Rams head coach Amanda Giles says their focus is between the opposing pipes.

“We’ve got to get a goal or two or three, maybe, past Taylor Kressin,” said Giles. “Kressin is fantastic. So, we got to use our speed and take her eyes away and get a lot of shots to the net. If we want to have any success, we got to get in her head and make her have a bad day.”

Puck drop is Wednesday night, February 12, at the Ralph Engelstad Arena in Thief River Falls, Minnesota, for this Section 8AA Championship game.