Saturday will be state championship game No. 6 for veteran South St. Paul head coach Dave Palmquist. And even after all these years, the sting of -- in his mind -- being underappreciated still pinches hard.
Palmquist and the Packers, who beat No. 2 seed Breck on Friday in the Class 1A semifinals, believe their No. 3 seed in the tournament was too low.
His belief only intensified when Palmquist was notified that Mustangs coach Lenny Vannelli's advice to Warroad for the championship game was, "Don't take them lightly."
"I think a lot of people have kind of looked past us in some ways, especially as we entered the state tournament," said Palmquist, who has guided South St. Paul to four state championships. "Even we as a team knew that [top seed] Warroad and [No. 2 seed] Breck are two outstanding teams -- as the other teams are -- but we knew those two would be in our way.
"We felt a little cheated by getting the No. 3 seed, and I think these girls used that a little bit as motivation. I think Breck expected to win this game. I don't think they expected the Packers to play as well as we played together as a group.
Sub to starterEdina goaltender Maddie Dahl saw action in last season's Class 2A title game as a reserve, entering the game after Roseville built a 3-0 lead.
This year, Dahl is the every-day starter. And after stopping all 26 Hill-Murray shots in Friday's 2-0 semifinal victory, she has the Hornets back in the title game.
"All season it's been great not having to compete for the No. 1 spot," Dahl said. "I've been more consistent, and I think my team has become comfortable with me and I've become comfortable with them."
