The best team no one is talking about? How about Mora/Milaca, which has won eight straight and 12 of its last 13 and is home to a forward named Parker Mitchell. Perhaps you’ve heard of him — or perhaps not. Mitchell merely has 44 goals and 72 points, both tops in the state.
The 14-4-2 Mustangs and Mitchell don’t get a lot of recognition for a couple of reasons. One, they are in the heart of flyover country, that forgotten triangle of forest and farmland north of the Twin Cities, east of St. Cloud and south of the Duluth area. Two, Mora/Milaca’s schedule isn’t particularly difficult.
Princeton (8-12-0), Duluth Marshall (6-13-1), Pine City (7-14-0) and Proctor (12-6-1) are among the toughest teams the Mustangs have played to date. Mora/Milaca is 1-3-0 against those squads.
That strength of schedule ratchets up considerably tonight when the Mustangs face a ranked team, No. 19-1A St. Cloud Cathedral (11-9-0), for the first time this season.
The Crusaders, who had lost six of seven to start the 2022 portion of their schedule, appear to have patched most of their leaks. They have defeated Monticello and Rochester Lourdes in their last two outings, with top scorer Nolan Widman (14 goals, 14 assists) contributing four points in those two games.
This matchup has all sorts of seeding implications in Section 5A, as Cathedral is trying to solidify its position in the top four that is expected to also include Cambridge-Isanti, Little Falls and Monticello. The Mustangs could potentially barge into that top four with a win tonight over Cathedral.