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Prep boys hockey, girls basketball, alpine and Nordic ski, and gymnastics teams open training camp today. Teams and elite players to watch: Hermantown in boys hockey (senior forward River Freeman and senior defenseman Henry Peterson) and Duluth Marshall in girls basketball (senior guard Regan Juenemann and freshman guard-forward Chloe Johnson).
Prep girls hockey results: Warroad 7, Proctor-Hermantown 1 (Friday); Proctor-Hermantown 2, Roseau 1 (Saturday). Mirage scoring leader: sophomore defenseman Avery Milbridge (1 g, 1 a, 2 pts). Mirage goaltending leader: senior Neelah McLeod (1-1-0, 4.55 goals-against, .822 svs %). Mirage (1-1-0) this weekend: at Bloomington Jefferson (0-1-0) Friday and Edina (0-0-0) Saturday.
Hermantown Prep Boys Hockey Update
Hermantown is on a mission to capture a fifth Class 1A state championship in 2024-25.
"We have come oh so close the past two seasons," said Hawks head coach Patrick Andrews. "Our senior class has come just close enough to sniff but not get a taste of a state championship (second in 2024, third in 2023). So to say they are motivated is an understatement."
The defending Section 7 champion Hawks are led by senior defenseman Henry Peterson, a St. Thomas commit (11-12-23), and senior power forward River Freeman (22-28-50).
"As always we like to build from our goaltending out, which for the first time in three seasons is a wide-open competition," said Andrews. "Our back end will feature some inexperienced but skilled D-men with Peterson as the obvious leader. But junior defenseman Kyler Berg (1-3-4) honed his skills this fall in the elite league, Caden Manion (1-1-2) comes in with some varsity experience and newcomer sophomore Gabe Swenson looks very impressive coming off a Bantam AA state runner-up.
"Our goal-scoring outside of River with 35 career goals will be bolstered by junior Ford Skytta (15-19-34), who had a tremendous sophomore campaign and played in the Elite League. The third member of River and Ford’s line from last season, AJ Francisco, left early to play for the NTDP. AJ’s departure opens up ample opportunities for returning forwards such as Charlie Marchand (8-8-16), Jack Slattengren (3-6-9), Bode Madill (2-6-8), Henry Martinsen (1-1-2), and Jaxsen Ericksen (0-2-2) to jump onto that top line.
"Our depth will come from great competition from several players ready to step in from JV and some young studs coming up from Bantams. Overall, the season looks very exciting and our team looks to be coming together after a great summer season pushing each other. With our schedule, we will be pushed every night. If our young guys can stay hungry and learn, and the older guys can stay patient and trust the process, we could be really good come February."
