WIAA State Girls Hockey Tournament Preview

Tuesday, February 16th, 2021 -- 7:35 AM

The 20th WIAA Girls Hockey State Tournament will take place this Wednesday and Saturday.

GIRLS SCHEDULE:

Semifinal - Wednesday, Feb. 17 at Chippewa Falls Ice, Chippewa Falls

#1 Eau Claire North Co-op (12-4-1) vs. #4 University School of Milw. Co-op (17-3) - 3 p.m.

Semifinal - Wednesday, Feb. 17 at Greenheck Ice Arena, Schofield

#2 D.C. Everest Co-op (13-5) vs.  #4 Chippewa Falls Co-op (12-6-1) - 7 p.m.

Championship - Saturday, Feb. 20 at South Wood County Rink

Semifinal Winners - 12:10 p.m.

FINALS ON STATEWIDE TV NETWORK:  The finals of the boys and girls State Tournaments will be televised live in our area on WAOW Wausau, WXOW La Crosse, and WQOW Eau Claire. The finals will also be streamed live on the State Television Network’s websites.

LAST YEAR:  In the girls final, the co-op of Xavier/Appleton East/North/West/Fox Valley Lutheran/Freedom/Hortonville/Kaukauna/Kimberly/ Little Chute/Menasha/Neenah/New London/St. Mary Catholic/Two Rivers/Wrightstown captured its second straight championship with a 5-3 victory over Middleton/Dodgeville/Edgewood/Madison Memorial/Madison West/Mount Horeb/Verona co-op in the final.

THE GIRLS FIELD: The Eau Claire North/Altoona/Eau Claire Memorial/Fall Creek co-op has been issued the top seed in the tournament. The Stars will be making their second appearance at State. The first resulted in a State championship in 2018. They return to the semifinals with a 5-4  win over the Marshfield co-op in the sectional final played at Onalaska. The D.C. Everest/Marathon/Merrill/Mosinee/Wausau East/Wausau West co-op, the #2 seed, makes its third appearance in the past four seasons with this configuration of schools and its third overall. This version of the Storm fell in the semifinals in their first two appearances in 2018 and 2019. The co-op, without Marathon and Merrill, won three titles and made 10 State appearances. The three championships came in 2008, 2012 and 2017. They also advanced to the championship game in 2011 and finished runner-up. The Storm breezed past the Xavier Co-op 5-1 in the sectional final held at Grand Chute to advance to the semifinals. Chippewa Falls/McDonell Catholic/Menomonie is the third seed. The Sabers in this configuration of the co-op is making their first State appearance. A former co-op that didn’t included Menomonie made back-to-back appearances in 2007-08. Their experience in 2007 resulted in a runner-up appearance. They netted a 7-4 triumph over the River Falls co-op in the sectional final held at River Falls to earn their first berth in the tournament field in 13 seasons. University School/Divine Savior Holy Angels/Dominican/Milwaukee King/Nicolet/Shorewood/Whitefish Bay makes its first State Tournament appearance with this version of the co-op. Another form of the co-op, without Dominican and Milwaukee King, won the title in 2015 and finished runner-up in 2016.  Other co-op variants advanced to the semifinals in 2010 and 2013. The Wildcats outlasted the Arrowhead co-op, 3-2, in three overtimes to win the sectional final held in Fond du Lac to advance to the State semifinal round.

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.