Dodge County 2, Mound Westonka 1
KASSON — A battle of two of the state’s top teams played out exactly as the latest Class 1A girls hockey state rankings would indicate: A one-goal game went down to the wire.
Freshman Daisy Harens started the scoring with a first-period goal that put top-ranked Dodge County up for good. She then set up teammate Hannah Peterson for what held up as the game-winning goal in the second period.
Veteran goalie Ida Huber took it from there, the senior Long Island University commit making 20 saves to help the Wildcats hold off No. 3-ranked Mound Westonka/Southwest Christian 2-1 at the Dodge County Ice Arena on Saturday afternoon.
It was a matchup of teams that could potentially meet in late February at the Xcel Energy Center, both goalies stood out.
Savannah Blahowiak made 26 saves for Mound Westonka, while Huber stopped six shots in the first period, then seven in each of the final two periods.
No. 1 Dodge County (7-0-1 overall) remains one of two unbeaten teams in Class 1A, along with Marshall (10-0-0).
Mound Westonka drops to 4-3-0 overall. Its losses have come against the top two teams in Class 1A — Dodge County and No. 2 Holy Angels — and against Section 1, Class 2A power Northfield.
Dodge County returns to action at 7 p.m. Thursday at No. 9-ranked Blake. The Wildcats then go to Class 2A rival Owatonna on Saturday, Dec. 14, before hosting No. 5-ranked Orono on Tuesday, Dec. 17.
DODGE COUNTY 2, MOUND WESTONKA 1
Mound Westonka 0-0-1 — 1
Dodge County 1-1-0 — 2
Mound Westonka: Elli Lindquist 1 goal; Brelynn Koehler 1 assist. Goalie: Savannah Blohowiak 26 saves (28 shots).
Dodge County: Daisy Harens 1 goal, 1 assist; Hannah Peterson 1 goal; Alexa Van Straaten 1 assist. Goalie: Ida Huber 20 saves (21 shots).
WINONA 2, MANKATO WEST 0
Winona 1-1-0 — 2
Mankato West 0-0-0 — 0
Winona: Abby Forsyth 1 goal; Elle Jerowski 1 goal; Jocelyn Mehling 1 assist; Anna Raymond 1 assist. Goalie: Aliya Gricius 34 saves (34 shots).
Mankato West: Goalie: Alayna Smith 22 saves (24 shots).
Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of “staff.” Often, the “staff” byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.
