Northland Sports Online

Mirage Championship not the Norm

Proctor/Hermantown players swarmed senior forward Alyssa Watkins (22) after she scored the game winning goal in double overtime.    ]

ALEX KORMANN • alex.kormann@startribune.com



Proctor/Hermantown took on Gentry Academy in the girl's hockey Class A state championship on Saturday, April 3, 2021 in Xcel Energy Arena in St. Paul.

George Bailey – NSO

 

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Proctor/Hermantown becomes the eighth program since the tournament divided into two classes in 2002 to win a Class 1A girls’ hockey state title.

Gentry Academy of Vadnais Heights finished runner-up in its first year as a varsity program.

This was only the second 1A title game in the past 15 tournaments that didn’t include either Breck or Blake (which moved to Class 2A in 2018). Warroad won back-to-back titles in 2010 and 2011.

Proctor/Hermantown, in its sixth trip to state, becomes the fifth public school program to win a Class 1A girls’ state hockey championship, joining South St. Paul (2006), Alexandria (2008), Warroad (2010, 2011) and Thief River Falls (2015).

Mirage second-year coach Emma Stauber, who scored a goal in the state quarterfinals as a player for the program in the 2010 state tournament, led her team to a state championship from behind the bench two seasons after winning a championship as a professional player when she won the Isobel Cup with the Minnesota Whitecaps in 2019.

That game was also decided in overtime.

“I know it from a player perspective … the Isobel Cup was a highlight in my career and something that I’ll never forget, and I’ll get to carry that with me,” Stauber said. “I’ve been able to just portray some of my experiences on these girls and get them to truly believe.”

 

 

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