Mirage Locked In Ahead of State Quarterfinal Matchup Against Dodge County

The State quarterfinal matchup between the Mirage and the Wildcats is on Wednesday afternoon.

DULUTH, Minn.- On Wednesday, the Proctor/Hermantown Mirage will drop the puck down at Grand Casino Arena for the sixth consecutive year, representing Section 7 at the State Tournament.

The Mirage earned the 5th seed in the tournament and will face the defending state champions in Dodge County.

The Mirage’s quarterfinal matchup against the Wildcats will not be their first time this season facing off against the defending champs, as the Mirage defeated Dodge County 5-1 back in December.

Even though the Mirage took down the Wildcats once this season, Proctor/Hermantown knows that it’s a new game against the champions.

” It doesn’t matter when you get down there, you got to beat anyone that comes in front of you. So regardless of seeding we’ve got to be ready to play. Just dialing in those systems that we’ve been working on all year,” said Mirage head coach Emma Stauber.

“We all need to get locked in as a team. Just really pull each other together and lift each other up each day and get better and better,” said Mirage forward Grace Nichols.

When clashing with the top teams in the state.

The Mirage understand that it’s going to take everyone on the roster to bring home a championship.

“I think our captains, are upperclassmen especially, we got 12 seniors this year, a hand full of juniors. We are going to require everything from everyone. So, lean in on everyone,” said Stauber. ”

“The first game will be the most important, but we have experience that’s forsure,” said Nichols.

The State quarterfinal matchup between the Mirage and the Wildcats is on Wednesday afternoon.

Puck drop is at 1 p.m.