Mirage Hold Off Mankato East 4-3 in Class A Quarterfinals

Proctor/Hermantown will next play Orono in the semifinals on Friday. Puck drop is set for 11 AM at the Xcel Energy Center.

ST. PAUL, Minn.- The Proctor/Hermantown Mirage advanced to the Class A semifinals on Wednesday, defeating Mankato East 4-3 in the quarterfinals.

The Mirage would dominate the Cougars in the first two periods, taking a 3 to nothing lead heading into the 3rd.

Nya Sieger, Reese Heitzman, and Ella Rothe would be the first three goal scorers for the Mirage.

But then in the 3rd, Proctor/Hermantown’s comfortable lead would start to dwindle. Mankato East would light the lamp twice in the first two minutes and 31 seconds of the 3rd.

Finally, later in the period Reese Heitzman would put the game away and put it away for good with her 20th goal of the season. That goal would eventually give the Mirage the 4 to 3 victory.

“We felt very comfortable, composed and just felt like we were controlling the game like we wanted to, and then we had a 3-0 lead going into the thrid period and I think with a couple penalties we took , kind of shifted the momentum and Mankato was able to get some one us so, that was kind of the turning point in the third period, but our girls found a way to dig through it, keep fighting, and got the win.” said head coach Emma Stauber.

Proctor/Hermantown will rely on their experience in previous years to push them to the top once agai,

“I think after winning state in 2021 we kind of felt that pressure through the rest of our upcoming years, so I think we’ve learned to either embrace it or try to forget about it,” said senior forward Reese Heitzman.

“I think because we’re super experienced too we’ve all kind of been there with each other so we feed off each other so it’s really fun actually the playoffs we love it, I mean I do but, I know everybod else does, it’s fun,” added junior defenseman Katie Sandelin.

“We really stayed positive after the game, we fought and did what we needed to do, we got the win and there is some areas we have to clean up but defintely no disappointed with the girls at all, we have a target on our back and people want to take us down and we just have to be ready for it,” said Stauber.

Proctor/Hermantown will next play Orono in the semifinals on Friday. Puck drop is set for 11 AM at the Xcel Energy Center.