2026 Minnesota Girls High School Hockey Section Tournament Preview 

The air shifts when section play begins. Rinks fill a little earlier, student sections get a little louder, and every shift carries a little more weight. Across Minnesota, 16 sections are gearing up for the most meaningful hockey of the year — where legacies are built, upsets are born, and the road to the X officially begins. This guide walks through each section with a high‑level look at the teams, players, and storylines that will define this year’s playoff run. 

Section 1AA

• Top seed / favorite: Farmington
• Main challenger(s): Northfield
• Thoughts: Farmington has been a team on the rise in recent weeks, climbing their way up the rankings since early January. Northfield scores a lot of goals (averaging 5.28/game), and their top scorer, Reese Peroutka, has 30 goals and 30 assists on the season, so they will be a handful. Farmington did beat Northfield 5-1 in their only matchup of the season, so if these two teams face off in the section finals, it will be interesting to see if Northfield can make it a closer game than the first time around.

Section 2AA

• Top seed / favorite: Holy Family
• Main challenger(s): Minnetonka
• Thoughts: Both Holy Family and Minnetonka score a lot of goals, with Holy Family averaging 4.56/game and Minnetonka averaging 5.08/game. While Holy Family has one more loss on the season than Minnetonka, they did come out on top of Minnetonka 2-0 in their only regular season meeting, and Holy Family’s losses came against top-ranked Centennial/Spring Lake Park (who they lost to twice) and Hill-Murray. Minnetonka also has tied 5 times this season, so closing out games could be a bit of an issue for them in a close game.

Section 3AA

• Top seed / favorite: Apple Valley
• Main challenger(s): Lakeville North
• Thoughts: This section feels a bit wide open, with no team ranked in the top 15 in the state. Both Apple Valley and Lakeville North have similar records and goal stats, so it should be fairly evenly matched if these two teams face off in the section final. The teams split their 2 regular season matchups, with the home team winning each game 3-2, further confirming that it will likely be another close contest if these two teams face off. 

Section 4AA

• Top seed / favorite: Hill-Murray (defending state champions) 
• Main challenger(s): Woodbury
• Thoughts: This looks to be one of the tougher sections in the state, with the defending state champions Hill-Murray and Woodbury as the top 2 teams, but solid contenders in East Ridge, Gentry Academy, and Stillwater also possibilities for upsets to get themselves deeper into this section or possibly win it altogether. Hill-Murray will lean on its players who were a part of last year’s state championship to try to get them back to the tournament again this season. Look for Woodbury’s top scorers of Madison Boone and Makenna Miller to have strong sections if they want to be the ones to upset the defending champs. Hill-Murray and Woodbury didn’t face off during the regular season.

Section 5AA

• Top seed / favorite: Centennial/Spring Lake Park
• Main challenger(s): Maple Grove
• Thoughts: Centennial/SLP has earned being one of the top-ranked teams in the state. They score a ton of goals, averaging 5.72/game, and get balanced scoring, with 5 players with 30+ points on the season. They played Holy Family (not in this section) a whopping 4 times in the regular season, and their only losses of the season were 2 to Holy Family and one to Hill-Murray, the other top-ranked teams in the state. They have played a number of top ranked teams in the state and seem to be battle tested and ready for the challenge of the section tournament. 

Section 6AA

• Top seed / favorite: Edina
• Main challenger(s): Wayzata, Benilde-St. Margaret’s
• Thoughts: This is another tough, deep section. Edina has 4 players with 30+ points on the season, so they have a nicely balanced scoring attack. Edina beat Wayzata in both of their regular season matchups, and beat Benilde in their only regular season matchup, but time will tell if they are able to beat one or both of those teams again in the section tournament to punch their ticket to state.

Section 7AA

• Top seed / favorite: Andover
• Main challenger(s): Duluth, Forest Lake, Grand Rapids/Greenway
• Thoughts: Andover has the most losses of the top contenders in this section, but they have played a tougher schedule than most of the other teams in the section, so they should be the most battle tested. Forest Lake did beat Andover early in the season, 1-0, and Grand Rapids/Greenway and Andover tied in their only matchup, so this could be a closely contested section.

Section 8AA

• Top seed / favorite: Bemidji
• Main challenger(s): Moorhead, Alexandria
• Thoughts: Bemidji looks to be the strongest team in the section, but it will be another closely contested one. Moorhead beat Bemidji in their only regular season matchup, Alexandria and Bemidji tied in their only matchup, and Moorhead and Alexandria split their 2 regular season matchups, so this section could be a bit of a toss-up. It should be fun to watch and see who comes out on top!

Section 1A

• Top seed / favorite: Dodge County (defending state champions)
• Main challenger(s): Albert Lea
• Thoughts: Dodge County is battle tested this season, with nearly all of their losses coming against AA schools, and top ranked AA schools like Minnetonka, Hill-Murray, and Holy Family.  Albert Lea’s top goal scorer, Morgan Goskeson, will have to have a big section tournament to help her team find a way past the favorites.

Section 2A

• Top seed / favorite: Mankato East
• Main challenger(s): Minnesota River
• Thoughts: Mankato East and Minnesota River tied in their only matchup so far this season, way back on November 13^th. If the section final comes down to these 2 teams (which seems likely), it should be an exciting, close game.  

Section 3A

• Top seed / favorite: Marshall
• Main challenger(s): Luverne
• Thoughts: Brooklyn Mauch is running away with the goals and points races this year in girl’s hockey. A huge percentage of Marshall’s goal scoring comes from her, so if a team could ever find a way to shut her down, they could find success, but outside of that, she’s likely to be the difference maker in this section. Luverne lost to Marshall twice this year; the first game’s score was 6-1, and the most recent game ended 4-3. Luverne could take that recent close outcome and turn it into a battle for Marshall.

Section 4A

• Top seed / favorite: Blake
• Main challenger(s): Chisago Lakes
• Thoughts: Blake won’t blow you away offensively for the most part, but they hold opponents to an average of less than 1.5 goals per game, so they don’t have to score a ton to win their games. Chisago Lakes, on the other hand, has 2 players with 50 points each this season, so they can score some goals. If the section final is a matchup between these 2 teams, it will be fun to see Blake’s defense and goaltending match up against Chisago Lakes’ offense. The two teams didn’t face off in the regular season.

Section 5A

• Top seed / favorite: Breck
• Main challenger(s): Orono, Westonka/SW Christian 
• Thoughts: Breck is the team to beat in section 5A. They have easily beaten the other teams in their section that they faced in the regular season, so it will be an uphill climb for any other team to get past them, but that’s the beauty of playoff hockey – anything can happen and we normally see at least an upset or two each year in the sectionals, so nothing’s guaranteed.

Section 6A

• Top seed / favorite: St. Cloud
• Main challenger(s): Fergus Falls
• Thoughts: This is a pretty wide-open section, with St. Cloud the only team with a win/loss record above 0.500. 

Section 7A

• Top seed / favorite: Proctor/Hermantown
• Main challenger(s): Rock Ridge, North Shore
• Thoughts: Proctor/Hermantown looks to be a clear favorite, with convincing wins over both Rock Ridge and North Shore this season, but both Rock Ridge (Mayme Scott) and North Shore (Berkley Hoff) have a player with 50 or more points this season, so if their top scorers can do something special, they could find a way to upset the favorites.

Section 8A

• Top seed / favorite: Warroad
• Main challenger(s): East Grand Forks, Thief River Falls
• Thoughts: Warroad looks to be a pretty heavy favorite in this section, with convincing wins over East Grand Forks and Thief River Falls in the regular season, and their only losses coming to top-10 teams from class 2A. They’re averaging 4.36 goals scored per game, and only giving up an average of 1.44, so they will be a tough team to beat.

Final Thoughts

Section tournaments are where dreams sharpen and seasons turn. Some teams will rise, some will surprise, and a few will punch their ticket to St. Paul with performances they’ll remember forever. However your section shakes out, this is the moment that reminds us why Minnesota hockey is unlike anything else. Let the playoff magic begin.