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Senior forward Camryn Iverson has been a force for Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato this season, posting a team-leading 21 goals and 17 assists.
Stella Hillmann, a junior defenseman, has 11 goals and 12 assists for the Charging Dragons this season.
A strong late-season run helped propel Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato to the No. 3 seed and a home game in the first round of the Section 2A playoffs.
The Charging Dragons, 12-12-1, meet sixth-seeded Mankato West, 11-14-0, in the Section 2A quarterfinals at 7 p.m. Thursday at Litchfield Civic Arena.
River Lakes, 13-8-4, earned to top seed in the section and will receive a first-round bye, as will No. 2 Willmar, 18-7-0.
Hutchinson, 11-13-1, secured the fourth seed and plays host to No. 5 Minnesota River Thursday in the first round of the playoffs.
Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato enters the postseason on a high note, having dismantled Morris/Benson 13-0 in its last game of the regular season Thursday. It helped the Charging Dragons bounce back from a 2-0 loss to Hutchinson Jan. 27 and gave them a string of eight wins in their final 12 regular season games.
As nice as it might be to open the postseason on their home ice, the Charging Dragons are in the odd position of matching up against the only team in Section 2A that they didn’t play during the regular season.
LDC split pairs of games with Willmar and Hutchinson, and lost single games to River Lakes and Minnesota River.
While comparing scores doesn’t mean much, especially in the postseason, Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato tied Mankato East 2-2 in mid-December. Mankato East beat its crosstown rival and the Charging Dragons’ first-round section opponent twice during the regular season by a cumulative score of 16-0. Mankato West also lost to Hutchinson 7-1 in mid-December, but beat Minnesota River (3-2) and Morris/Benson (5-3) in late December.
Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato will look to a high-scoring trio to lead it into the playoffs. Senior forward Camryn Iverson tops the group with 21 goals and 17 assists — both team-high numbers. Meanwhile, sophomore forward Lydia Schultz has 11 goals and 13 assists, and junior defenseman Stella Hillmann has 11 goals and 12 assists.
Three other players have posted double figures in points: Olivia Robertson (7 goals, 10 assists), Krista Tormanen (4 goals, 13 assists) and Gabby Robertson (4 goals, 10 assists).
The Charging Dragons have used a platoon system in goal throughout the season, much like they did last season, with juniors Janelle Quast and Kira Kuechle sharing the netminding load. Quast has an 8-5-1 record and 1.76 goals against average, while Kuechle is 4-7-0 with a 2.89 goals against average.
