Greyhounds, Hilltoppers Prepare for Hockey Rivalry Game

Duluth East and Duluth Marshall will meet up on Thursday night for the fourth straight year.

DULUTH, Minn. – It’s the game that local high school hockey fans look forward to ever since the rivalry was renewed in 2015. Since then, Duluth East and Duluth Marshall have met every year, and the stakes are always high.

“Oh we just know that this place is going to be packed. All the kids up at school, they hate them. I know the kids at East, they hate us. It really helps that we beat them the first time too because that kind of got it going. Nobody expected us to win, we came out and won and that started the rivalry,” Duluth Marshall forward Carter Sullivan said.

“It’s a huge rivalry, especially for me because I played with all of these kids when I was younger and I hope a whole bunch of fans show up. It’s going to be a great game,” Duluth Marshall goalkeeper Alex Busick said.

Duluth Marshall is off to a slow start, as they enter Thursday’s game 3-3 on the season. This is the Hilltoppers’ second section game this year, after downing Cambridge Isanti 14–0. But the Hilltoppers know that this will be a completely different battle.

“Well obviously they’re one of the best teams in the state. And we have a lot of respect for their program. Mike Randolph, year in and year out, does a great job with his group. I think they’ve got high end guys, they’ve got a lot of depth up and down their four lines, and it should be a very interesting matchup,” Duluth Marshall head coach Bill Owens said.

“There’s always going to be intensity when we’re playing East. They’re going to come out flying, we’ve got to come out flying to match them and it’s just going to be a tight game,” Sullivan added.

And across town, Duluth East is off to another strong start to their season, currently 5-1 with an overtime loss to section foe Andover. But the Greyhounds understand the importance of this game.

“It’s always a big section game. It’s in their building, we played two years ago in their building, it’s an exciting place to play and I think our kids are excited about going up there to play,” Duluth East head coach Mike Randolph said.

And the players feel that excitement, and they’re ready to see who claims bragging rights for when they head across town.

“It’s a fun game, it’s kind of a battle of Duluth game. We know a lot of each other between the two teams so it’s a fun game. It’s like an away game but it’s not because you grew up playing in Mars just as much as here but it’s fun to get in that game, especially with the rivalry games, those kind of add to the competitive edge of everything,” Duluth East forward Ryder Donovan said.

The Greyhounds have won three of the last four meetings, but they know that anything can happen in a rivalry game.

“We’ve got to wear them down like we have been with the other teams and take them into the third period and kind of just wear them down physically, mentally and emotionally and just take it away from them,” Duluth East left wing Ricky Lyle Jr. said.

Puck drop is Thursday at 7 p.m. at Mars Lakeview Arena.