section playoffs

Lakeville South rallied with a three-goal third period to unseat defending Section 1AA girls' hockey champion Farmington 6-5 in front of a packed Four Seasons Centre in Owatonna. The arena emptied and refilled for Red Wing's 4-1 victory over Rochester Lourdes in the 1A title game. The Cougars and Wingers advance to the state tournament at Xcel Energy Center February 21-24.

Lakeville South has one of the top goalies in the state. Owatonna never had the chance to test Lexi Baker, a finalist for the Let's Play Hockey Senior Goalie of the Year Award. South stormed the Owatonna net early and beat the Huskies 7-0 in Saturday's Section 1AA semifinals. The Cougars advance to the finals Thursday at 5PM at Four Seasons Centre in Owatonna where they face a rematch with Farmington, who won the title last year.

Senior Laura Ebeling grew up watching her older brother Luke play goalie for Owatonna and said, "I want to be a goalie too." She started hockey as a skater but then around U-10 indicated she wanted to go between the pipes. She says her father asked her, "Are you sure?" Laura is in her third year on the varsity and turned in a fantastic performance Wednesday night to extend her career at least through the weekend.

Owatonna and Rochester Mayo meet for the fourth time this season Wednesday at 7PM at Graham Arena in Rochester in the quarterfinal round of the Section 1AA playoffs on KRFO AM1390. The Huskies have led late in each of the three previous games, but Mayo scored late in the third twice and went on to win those games in overtime. The Spartans have also limited Margo Achterkirch, Owatonna's leading scorer, to no goals and just two assists this season.

Goodhue scored a touchdown early in the fourth quarter and held on for a 19-14 win over Blooming Prairie in the Section 1A title game at Rochester Regional Sports Stadium Saturday.

Owatonna scored all the points they would need in the opening minute of the Section 1-5A football championship game at OHS Friday night. Abe Havelka tossed a screen pass to Noah Budach in the right flat and he sprinted up the sideline for a 55-yard touchdown to put the Huskies up 7-0 just 54 seconds into the game. Owatonna went on to a 37-0 win over Rochester Century to repeat as section champs.

Owatonna hosts Rochester Century in the Section 1-5A football title game Friday night at 7PM at the OHS football field on KRFO AM 1390. The Huskies beat the Panthers 46-7 October 6 with Owatonna running back Jason Williamson scorching Century for a school-record 343 yards.

Faribault Bethlehem Academy rallied from a 2-sets-to-1 deficit and fought off two match points in the fifth game to outlast Hayfield 3-2 Thursday at Mayo Civic Center and add another Section 1A, West Subsection trophy to their collection. A year ago Hayfield topped the Cardinals for the crown.

Owatonna football is back into the Section 1-5A final after making it all the way to the state semifinals at U.S. Bank Stadium last year. To the surprise of many, the Huskies host the title game after Rochester Century upset top seed Northfield in Saturday's semifinals.

A nice playoff run ended for NRHEG volleyball Tuesday night 3-0 to No. 2 seed St. Clair in the Section 2A, south subsection semifinals. The scores went 25-19, 25-11, 25-22. NRHEG (11-17, No. 6 seed) had beaten Springfield in the first round and upset No. 3 seed Alden-Conger in the quarterfinals.