The record doesn’t always tell a team’s story.
Such is the case with the Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato boys hockey team, which earned the No. 2 seed for the Section 3A tournament, despite losing its final two games and finishing with an overall record just south of .500.
For the Dragons, strength of schedule made a difference.
“We play a fairly tough schedule, and we play in the competitive Wright County Conference, which doesn’t always help our record, but it does help prepare for the playoffs,” L/DC coach Brice Berggren said.
Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato, 7-8-2 overall, received a first-round bye and will play host to a section quarterfinal game at 7 p.m. Thursday at Litchfield Civic Arena. The Dragons will meet the winner of a first-round contest between seventh-seeded Luverne and No. 10 Fairmont.
Berggren, in his second season as head coach, said that as the Dragons looked toward the playoffs the coaching staff had a list of expectations.
“As we finish the regular season, we need to continue to work on three things that we will need to do well in the playoffs,” Berggren said. “No. 1, play 51 minutes. No. 2, be prepared to play every night. 3. Play our style of hockey.”
The Dragons had an up-and-down week in response to that request. They dropped a 5-4 decision at Waconia, a team with just two previous wins on the season, on March 8. But Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato rebounded with a much stronger performance March 11 against Orono, which finished third in the Wright County Conference with a 10-3 record, 10-7 overall.
Though they lost, the Dragons gave Orono a solid test before falling 4-3 in overtime.
L/DC built a 2-0 lead behind a first-period goal from Caden Besemer and an early second-period goal by Mason Schroeder. But Orono stormed back to tie the game with two goals later in the second, both on power plays.
Schroeder put the Dragons back in front on a power play goal just 2:40 into the third period. But Orono’s Bradley Walker answered with an even-strength goal midway through the third.
L/DC was within seconds of holding on for a tie in overtime, but Carson Clark gave Orono the win at 7:44 of the extra period.
Though not the end result they wanted, it was the kind of hard-fought game that can ready a team for a playoff test, similar to a 2-1 win the Dragons earned over New Prague a week earlier.
L/DC enters the postseason with a balanced offensive attack that will make it difficult for opponents to focus on any one player. Logan Benson leads the Dragons’ offensive attack with seven goals and 10 assists, while Jack Hillmann has seven goals and nine assists, Schroeder has four goals and 11 assists, and Gavin Hanson has five goals and nine assists.
“When it comes to scoring and trying to predict who is going to put up points, it’s always a guess,’ Berggren said of the attack. “We try to establish forward lines with guys who work well together and complement each other with their skill sets.
“Having three consistent lines has helped us throughout the season, because we are able to get mismatches with other teams who sometimes stack their lines,” he added. “When it comes to goals, we have had several guys who have hit quite a few pipes and had quite a few scoring chances but just haven’t been able to get the puck to bounce their way. I keep telling them to do the fundamentals well and the goals and puck bounces will come around.”
