by Blayke Nelson

Season Summary

The Lady Warriors had a great first half to the season following a overtime loss to Holy Family on opening night. Leading up to our home Christmas tournament the Warriors record was 10-2-1. Both losses and tie were to top 10 ranked AA teams. With some changes to the schedule taking place in the second half of the season, the Lady Warriors added 6 more wins to the record before falling again to the undefeated Andover Husky’s. After that loss they added another 5 wins and headed to the Section 8 Playoffs ranked number 1 with a 21-3-1 record!

Section Playoffs

Heading into the semi-finals with a first-round bye, the Lady Warriors defeated the Thief River Falls Prowlers to make it to the Section 8 Championship Game to take on the Crookston Pirates. After the first period the Warriors were leading the shots 13-2 and spending lots of time in the offensive zone but could not find the back of the net. It wasn’t until the 7:20 mark of the 2nd that the first goal was scored by Warroad’s #55 Lila Lanctot. After the first goal the Warriors exploded with 6 more consecutive goals to win the Section 8 Championship 7-0 and punch their ticket to the Xcel!! They look to hang a third Championship Banner in the rafters of the The Gardens Arena. They will face the River Lakes Stars in the quarterfinals at 6:00 p.m., Wednesday the 23rd of February.

Stand-out Players

Talya Hendrickson led the Warriors in points with 83, 32 goals and 51 assists. Her 51 assists was atop the statewide assist rankings. She is a Junior Captain and paired with fellow Junior, Kate Johnson who was right behind her with 81 points, 45 goals and 36 assists. Both girls are ranked in the top-10 in the state in points. 4th and 6th respectively. This dynamic duo looks to lead the Warriors back up to Warroad with the teams’ third State Championship!

On the opposite side of the ice, the Warrior’s Senior Goaltender, Kendra Nordic, has been solid in big games for the Warriors this season. She held teams to a 1.08 Goals Against Average and a Season Save Percentage of .960. She wraps up her Senior Season with record of 18-3-1 and earning her two top-10 spots for Goals Against and Save Percentage.

The Lady Warriors will look to shut down their competition in St. Paul with a high-powered offense and a stellar defensive backbone.