Rosemount Girls Hockey Team Squares Off Against Edina in Thursday Morning Game

It will be a state tournament newcomer vs. a regular participant Thursday, when Edina and Rosemount match up in the first round of the MSHSL Class AA Girls Hockey State Championship at the Xcel Energy Center in downtown St. Paul. The Hornets and Irish drop the puck on the Class AA tournament, playing the first game of the bracket at 11 a.m.

The Edina Hornets are old hands at advancing to the MSHSL Class AA Girls Hockey State Championship Tournament. On the other hand, the Rosemount Irish will be making their first-ever late-February trip to downtown St. Paul.

While the Irish don’t have a ton of familiarity with the state tournament, there will definitely be familiarity with the bench bosses. Rosemount head coach Tracy Cassano (maiden name Engstrom) played with Edina head coach Laura Slominski at the University of Minnesota. Both were captains and they roomed together for four years and shared a national championship. 

Edina, the No. 2-ranked team in the state and the No. 2 seed in the tournament, rolled through the Section 2AA tournament, outscoring their competition 21-1. The Hornets were the 2010 state runners-up, falling to Roseville Area in last year’s state title game. Edina is 24-3-1 on the season, with their only losses coming to Blake and Roseville early in the season and to Minnetonka in late January.

The Hornets are led by Sami Reber, who has a total of 67 points on 26 goals and 41 assists, while Christie Brauer has tallied 48 points on 31 goals and 17 assists. Edina goaltender Maddie Dahl went 23-3-1 with a .941 save percentage and 476 saves, leading up to the state tournament.

To have success at State, ninth-ranked Rosemount will need to avoid just being happy to advance to the Xcel Center, after a near miss last season and an emotional win in last week’s Section 3AA tournament.

After last week's section final win, Cassano said veteran leadership from Rachael Kelly and Allison Micheletti will be needed to help her keep the Irish on an even keel when the puck drops.

The Irish enter the state tournament with a 22-5-1 record. Two of those losses were to Eastview and those were avenged in last week’s section title matchup. Rosemount does hold a victory over Class A state tournament qualifier Breck School and its lone tie this season came against AA state qualifier Lakeville South.

Kelly leads the Irish with 71 points on 30 goals and 41 assists. Junior forward Taylor Sampson’s 19 goals and 30 assists rank her second on the team in scoring, while Micheletti has added 20 goals and 12 assists. Junior Caitlin Dantzscher has a .907 save percentage between the pipes, making 543 saves this season.