The Section 1A playoffs start the same way for Owatonna as they did in 2016. OHS hosts Waseca at 7PM Wednesday at Four Seasons Centre in the quarterfinals.

A year ago, the Bluejays jumped out to a 2-0 lead despite being heavily outshot. Owatonna eventually rallied for a 3-2 win with a late third-period goal. The Huskies had a 50-11 shot advantage. Owatonna then went on the road and upset Red Wing before falling to Northfield in the section finals.

On Saturday's coaches show on KRFO, before knowing his team would be the No. 3 seed and would have a rematch with Waseca, OHS coach Tim Hunst said, "we've seen some strange things happen. If you look past anybody you get yourself in big trouble." He added, "it is going to have to be all out against that team because we've had some big scares in the past."

Last year's playoff meeting was the first game between the schools. This season they squared off in Waseca on December 13. Owatonna won 3-0 with a 42-8 dominance in shots on goal.

The Bluejays (11-13-1) went 4-3 against Big Nine Conference teams and finished in the middle of the pack in the Big South Conference. Goaltender Dani Dahms has a .903 saves percentage, 2.90 goals against and two shutouts. She was the net minder in last season's playoff thriller. Waseca is led in scoring by Riley Brown, who has 15 goals and 12 assists. Waseca is just 7 percent on the power play and 80 percent on penalty kill.

The Huskies (15-8-2) finished third in the Big Nine, staying in contention for the league title until the final week of the season. Margo Achterkirch leads the team with 28 goals and 16 assists. Jenna Bogen has 17 goals and 16 assists. Blue-liner Jamie Davison contributed eight goals and seven assists during the regular season. Sydney Hunst has seven goals and seven assists, while Maylynn Prokopec scored 11 goals. Laura Ebeling has been the mainstay in goal with a record of 13-7-2, 1.95 goals against and .904 saves percentage. Owatonna's power play is only 10 percent, but they kill off 90 percent of penalties against them.

Wednesday's game faces off at 7PM with coverage on KRFO AM 1390 and RadioPup. The winner will play the winner of the No. 7 Albert Lea at No. 2 Northfield game at the higher seed Saturday night. The section finals are Thursday, February 16, at Four Seasons in Owatonna.

 

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