A Warroad state title wasn’t supposed to be in play this year.
But after making it back to the state final, why not?
“Izzy [coach David Marvin] just goes, ‘Why not us?’” said junior Kaiya Sandy. “‘Why not us? You know, why not us? We’re this close.’
“Why not just push one more game. Why not just win?’”
That’s exactly how it played out for No. 4 seed Warroad as it skated to a three-peat of Class 1A state championships with a 5-2 victory over Dodge County on Saturday afternoon at Xcel Energy Center.
It’s the fifth title in 15 state tournament trips for Warroad, which was the top seed in Class 1A the past two years. Holy Angels had that seed this year, but Warroad knocked off the Stars in the semifinals. Warroad’s string of three straight titles marks the second three-peat in Class 1A girls hockey. Breck did it in 2018-20.
The Warriors had to “get it done differently” this year, said assistant coach Layla Marvin. They brought a younger, less experienced team to St. Paul this time, having graduated 10 players (nine now playing college hockey) from last year’s squad.
“No one was picking us this year,” Layla Marvin said. “In the past couple years, we’ve had so much skill, and we’ve had two lines of Division I players. This year, we don’t have that.”
