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About the Mustangs: Pleasantly surprised Breck is happy to be back in the state tournament. The Mustangs are making their fifth consecutive tournament appearance after losing 15 seniors from last year’s third-place team to graduation. “Coming into this year we didn’t know what to expect,” coach Les Larson said. “But right now, I like the way everybody is playing.” A lot of that has to do with a healthy lineup that will regularly play six defensemen. Breck’s offense scored 155 goals this season, led by senior center Matt Colford’s 33 goals and 44 assists. Thomas Lindstrom has 33 goals and 24 assists.

About the Tigers: Tournament inexperience might work against Marshall, but the momentum of a late surge could fill any such void. The Tigers lost their final three games of the season before stringing together three section victories to earn a trip to St. Paul. This string of success has Breck convinced that Marshall’s 14-10-1 record doesn’t matter. “They have evidently arrived,” Larson said. Senior wingers Corey Clark and Quinn Horvath each have 36 points this season.

Did you know? Marshall is the only team in Class 1A or 2A making its state tournament debut.

JASON GONZALEZ