ST. PAUL — In the biggest game in Dodge County girls hockey history on Saturday, everything was just a tiny bit off. And against a traditional powerhouse like Warroad, a tiny bit can make a huge difference.

At the final buzzer, the Xcel Energy Center scoreboard read Warroad 5, Dodge County 2 in the Class A championship game.

The Warriors celebrated their fifth state championship. Dodge County will, in time, celebrate the history it made. It will celebrate its first-ever trip to state and its first-ever trip to the state title game. It will celebrate its 23 wins, including two this week at Xcel Energy Center. At some point, the memories of the journey will overtake the memories of the final result.

Dodge County struck first, but Warroad rallied to take a 2-1 lead after one.

Dodge County junior forward Nora Carstensen opened the scoring 3:38 into the game, striking on the game’s first power play. Alexa Van Straaten sent the puck to Carstensen in the left circle and, for the third time in the tournament, Carstensen scored from that spot, rifling a wrist shot
between two Warriors defenders and over the shoulder of sophomore goalie Payton Rolli.

Warroad tied the score 1-1 with 3:48 to go in the period when Kaiya Sandy carried the puck into Dodge County’s end, skated low into the right circle and put a shot into a tight window just under the crossbar and just over the glove-side shoulder of Wildcats goalie Ida Huber.

The Warriors took their first lead just 54 seconds later when a Jaylie French shot squeaked past Huber and trickled into the net to make it 2-1.

Warroad doubled its lead in the first half of the second period. Dodge County fell behind 3-1 early in the second period when it was on the end of a bad bounce. Huber stopped a Taylor Reese shot, but the rebound hit a Wildcats player and bounced into the net. Four minutes later, Vivienne Marcowka took a nice pass from Jaylie French on a give and go, carried it deep, then beat Huber five-hole to make it 4-1.

The Wildcats answered Marcowka’s goal with some good pressure from its line of McKenna LaFleur, Zoe Heimer and Daisy Harens. The Wildcats landed a shot on top of the net from near the blue line, the puck bounced wide, then Warroad goalie Payton Rolli stopped McKenna LaFleur on a stuff attempt on the top of the crease. Seconds later, a Wildcats shot slid just inches wide.

Reese added her second of the game 3:34 into the third, when she won a race to a loose puck in the crease and batted it in to make it a 5-1 Warriors lead.

Sophomore defender Alexa Van Straaten pulled the Wildcats within 5-2 midway through the third period on a shot through traffic, for her seventh goal of the season, an unassisted tally with 9:46 to play.

They also were the emotional and/or on-ice leaders for a team that won a section championship and then won twice at state, becoming the first Section 1-1A team to reach the state championship game since the tournament went to an eight-team format in 2007.

Warroad was at the state tournament for a ninth consecutive season and the 15th time overall. Saturday’s game was the Warriors’ 10th title-game appearance and third consecutive. They were 4-5 in their previous nine state championship games, winning titles in 2010, 2011, 2022 and 2023.

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