Girls hockey starts playoffs Wednesday

The New Prague Trojan girls hockey team will face No. 9-ranked Red Wing in their regular season finale Thursday, Feb. 2.

The Trojans (10-12-1, 5-5 Missota) were scheduled to face Shakopee on Tuesday, Jan. 31.

If New Prague gets the No. 2 seed in Section 2A, as expected, they will host a home game in the opening round at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 8. If they win, they would play a home semifinal game at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11. The Section 1A title game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16, at Owatonna.

New Prague has a 6-1 record against Section 1A opponents, having beaten every team except Red Wing.

Seeding for the Section 1A tournament will take place this weekend, with pairings posted at newpraguetimes.com under Just Posted when they are announced.

The Trojans split a pair of Missota Conference games last week, defeating Northfield 5-4, then losing to Chaska/Chanhassen 5-2.

Trojans 5, Raiders 4

New Prague likely clinched the No. 2 seed in Section 1A with a 5-4 win over Northfield Tuesday, Jan. 24.

The Trojans led 4-3 after two periods and appeared headed for a win when the Raiders scored a shorthanded goal with 1:12 remaining in regulation. However the Trojans responded with a power play goal 32 seconds later to take the win.

Lindsay Paschke scored the game-winner, her second goal of the night, for the Trojans.

New Prague led 2-0 after one period on goals by Kasey Marquardt and Paschke and upped their lead to 3-0 on a goal by Dani Kocina early in the second.

But the Raiders responded with three straight goals to tie the game. Kocina gave the Trojans the lead at 4-3 with a goal with 36 seconds remaining in the second.

On the bench I stressed to the girls that Northfield was capable of a comeback