Bayside Chatter: Mariners reach milestones

Talk about it

A couple of nice benchmarks were set in Mariners hockey history last week, with both of them occurring at Rukavina Arena.

First, junior Taylor Guzzo became the sixth Mariner in girls hockey to reach the 100-point mark in career scoring with two goals and an assist versus the Blizzard. She finished the weekend with 102 points and is in fifth place on the all-time scoring list.

The next night, eighth-grader Alex Murray tied the single game saves mark for a Mariners goalie with 61 saves against Virginia. The mark was first set by Jim Tweto in 1970 and matched by Jonas Hoglander in 1990.

Seeding

It looks like the seedings for the girls Section 7A hockey tournament are pretty much set. From top to bottom it will be Chisago Lakes, Eveleth-Gilbert, Moose Lake, Silver Bay, International Falls, Hibbing, and Princeton. This would give Chisago a first-round bye and have Princeton at Eveleth, Hibbing at Moose Lake and International Falls at Silver Bay Thursday.

While these are not official, it is the only way the math comes out. When the coaches vote on the seeding the only rule is that there are no rules as to how you have to vote. Silver Bay and Moose Lake are reversed in all the computer rankings.

The Mariners tied 1-1 with International Falls at home early in the season and defeated them 4-3 up there late in the season in two evenly-played games. The semis and finals will be in Cloquet with the semis Feb. 15.

The seeding for the boys in Section 7A is very much still up in the air as there are a number of key games left to play. The Silver Bay-Ely game scheduled for Thursday at Silver Bay has been moved to Feb. 17 due to the girls playoff game.

College hockey

Former Mariner Biz Huss had three assists as Bethel defeated St. Olaf 6-3 and then scored the only goal as the two teams tied 1-1 in the rematch.

Former Mariner Libby Guzzo, a senior captain currently playing for the College of St. Scholastica, is tied for the team lead in points with 10. She has six goals and four assists on the season. Guzzo played the previous three seasons for the University of Minnesota Duluth.

The Saints current record is 7-11-1. They will play against the University of Wisconsin-Steven Point at 7 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday at Mars Lakeview Arena in Duluth.

Rankings

Once again there was a lot of chaos at the top of the AA hockey rankings last week. Hill-Murray moved into the top slot and survived. No. 2 Eden Prairie defeated No. 7 Minnetonka 4-2 who then defeated No. 3 Wayzata 6-0. No. 5 Duluth East fell 3-1 to No. 9 Maple Grove and No. 6 Edina fell 3-2 to unranked Cretin-Derham Hall and No. 8 Burnsville skated to a 4-4 tie with Wayzata. While the No. 1 team in Class A, St. Thomas Academy lost, it was 4-3 to Hill-Murray on a last-minute goal.

I’m glad I don’t have to sort out the AA top ten.

Tags: bayside chatter, sports, schools