RECAP: Warroad Girl’s Hockey Punches Ticket to State for 10th Straight Season

WARROAD DEFEATED CROOKSTON 4-2 THURSDAY NIGHT TO ADVANCE TO THE CLASS A STATE TOURNAMENT.

THIEF RIVER FALLS, Minn. (KVRR) –On Thursday, February 13, the Ralph Engelstad Arena in Thief River Falls, Minnesota, hosted the Section 8A Championship. With a 4 to 2 win over the Crookston Pirates, the Warroad Warriors won their 10th consecutive Section title and now have the opportunity to do something no other Minnesota girl’s high school hockey team has ever done: win four straight STATE championships.

It was not a walk in the park Thursday night for the Warriors. Warroad took the lead in the first period with a Jaylie French goal. But then the Warriors relied on their goaltender Payton Rolli to hold that lead through the second period.

In the third: FIREWORKS! Over the course of the final seven minutes, FIVE goals were scored. Jocelyn Field tied the game for Crookston, but Warroad’s Karlee Kalbrener quickly responded to give the Warriors the lead back. Then, Addison Fee tied the game back up for Crookston before Kalbrener and Taylor Reese for Warroad added two goals to give the Warriors the lead again, and that lead would hold.

Despite the valiant effort from the Pirates, it is now 10 straight section titles and the shot at a fourth straight state title for the Warriors.

“You know they’re a good team,” said Warroad’s Taylor Reese. “We knew we had to get shots on net, so at that point, all we were trying to do is get the goalies eyes. They have a couple good defensemen we knew we had to get around, but mostly just pucks to the net.”

As for winning 10 straight titles…

“It is crazy to think about,” said Warroad goaltender Payton Rolli. “Just with all the people that have left and all the seniors. I think we’ve just worked our hardest at this game and pushed ourselves because we know where we want to go. This is the best time of the year to be playing.”

Now the opportunity to make more history. A potential FOURTH straight State Championship.

“You got to make sure you tell the other seven teams down there to lay down for us, right? said head coach David Marvin. “I think the Class A field is super strong. We got our work cut out. We’re going to enjoy this and then we’ll worry about that next week. There’s a lot of good Class A teams and we’ll have our hands full, but we’re going to enjoy this. It’s 10 in a row and 16th overall. It’s pretty special.”

Warroad received the 3-seed at State and will play 6-seed Marshall at 1 P.M. Wednesday, February 19, in the quarterfinals.

We will have coverage of the game and the tournament throughout the week on KVRR, so stay tuned!