Prowlers fall to Warriors in Section 8A championship

The Thief River Falls girls hockey season came to end at the hands of the Warroad Warriors for the third consecutive season. All three meetings were played with the Section 8A championship on the line, with the Warriors winning the most recent meeting at the Gardens Arena in Warroad.

Like previous seasons, the 2021 Warroad girls hockey team is both prolific at scoring and stingy on the defensive end. The Warriors, who improved to 19-1 with the win, average more than six goals per game while allowing less than one goal per game.

To pull off the upset, the Prowlers would likely need to keep the game low scoring. Unfortunately, things didn’t go according to plan for the Prowlers.

The Warriors netted a pair of first period goals off the sticks of Reanna Smith and Kate Johnson, respectively.

The score was still 2-0 in favor of the Warriors when Johnson found the net for the second time at the 3:19 mark of the second period.

An Abby Reule goal at the 7:06 mark of the third period made it 4-0 Warroad.

A pair of Tayla Hendrickson goals at the 11:16 and 13:18 marks rounded out the scoring for the Warriors.

The Section 8A championship was Warroad’s sixth straight dating back to the 2016 season. Thief River Falls won the section title in 2015, the same year that it won a state championship.

Thursday’s loss to the Warriors drops the Prowlers’ record to 10-7-1.

                                    1  2  3  –  T

Thief River Falls…..0  0  0     0

Warroad………………2  1  3      6

First period – Warroad, Kate Johnson (Reanna Smith, Madison Lavergne) 12:40; Warroad, Reanna Smith (power play) (Madison Lavergne) 14:49;

Second period – Warroad, Kate Johnson (power play) (Abbey Hardwick, Abbey Reule) 13:41.

Third period – Warroad, Talya Hendrickson (power play) (Karlie Meeker, Abbey Reule) 3:42; Warroad, Talya Hendrickson (power play) (Genevieve Hendrickson, Karlie Meeker) 5:44; Warroad, Abbey Reule (Lila Lanctot, Kaiya Sandy) 9:54.

Shots – TRF 8-1-3 – 12; Warroad 21-12-22 – 55

Power plays – TRF 0/4; Warroad 4/8.

Penalties – TRF 10 (23 minutes); Warroad 6 (15 minutes).

Goalie saves – TRF, Gabriella Steele 49; Warroad, Kendra Nordick 12.

■ Quarterfinals, Saturday, March 13 – East Grand Forks 4, Detroit Lakes 1.

■ Semifinals, Tuesday, March 16 – Warroad 7, East Grand Forks 0; Thief River Falls 5, Crookston 4.

■ Championship, Thursday, March 18 – Warroad 6, Thief River Falls 0.

■ Quarterfinals, Friday, March 26 at Xcel Energy Center – Rochester Lourdes (9-8-0) vs. 2. Warroad (19-1-0) 11 a.m.; Luverne (16-4) vs. 3. Proctor/Hermantown (18-0-0) 1 p.m.; River Lakes (13-5-2) vs. 1. Gentry Academy (17-2-0) 6 p.m.; 5. Mound Westonka/swc (14-2-0) vs. 4. Chisago Lakes (18-2-0) 8 p.m.

■ Semifinals, Thursday, April 1 at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. at Xcel Energy Center.

■ Championship, Saturday, April 3, 11 a.m. at Xcel Energy Center

■ Quarterfinals, Saturday, March 27 at Xcel Energy Center – Centennial (16-5-0) vs. 2. Edina (19-0-0) 11 a.m.; Alexandria Area (14-4-2) vs. 3 Minnetonka (15-3-3) 1 p.m.; Farmington (11-8-1) vs. 1. Andover (20-0-0) 6 p.m.; 5. Eastview (15-4-2) vs. 4. Stillwater Area 19-2-1) 8 p.m.

■ Semifinals, Thursday, April 1 at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. at Xcel Energy Center.

■ Championship, Saturday, April 4 at 1 p.m. at Xcel Energy Center.