Little Falls' dreams of an undefeated season were dashed on Saturday in a 5-1 loss to Fergus Falls, the same day Warroad - the state's other remaining unbeaten - also suffered its first loss.
Having unloaded the unbeaten burden, No. 4-1A Little Falls (15-1-0) goes about starting a new win streak against a sneaky good opponent in Thief River Falls (6-8-0).
The Prowlers have played a rugged schedule that includes several games against top-20 Class 1A teams, including No. 2 Warroad, and have been competitive in all of them. Prowlers senior Brett Holmer is among the best goaltenders in the state, and senior Brendan Bottem (14 goals) has emerged as a go-to scorer.
Little Falls scored fewer than four goals for the first time this season in the loss to Fergus Falls. Still, the Flyers rank second in the state with 100 goals, thanks in large part to the highlight-reel efforts of junior Matt Filippi. He ranks fourth in the state with 29 goals and second with 55 points.