Alexandria’s season has been a mixed bag of a few quality wins against Class 1A foes (East Grand Forks and Fergus Falls), some mildly surprising losses (two to Sartell-St. Stephen and one to Totino-Grace, both Class 2A programs) and otherwise as-expected results.
So just how good are the No.11-1A Cardinals? Saturday’s matchup against No. 7-1A Duluth Denfeld should offer a full assessment as to Alexandria’s current state of play.
Section reshuffling before this season has left Alexandria and Fergus Falls as the prohibitive favorites to reach the state tournament from Section 6A. Should the Cardinals (11-6-1) reach St. Paul, Denfeld (14-7-0) is the caliber of opposition they are likely to face.
The Hunters would have to knock off juggernaut Hermantown to escape Section 7A, a daunting task. But with Connor McClure (23 goals), Cooper McClure (16 goals), Andy Larson (15 goals) and Kaden Postal (12 goals), the Hunters have the firepower to score in bunches.
Alexandria gets much of its scoring from the duo of Joe Gronholz (15 goals) and Brycen Berg (14 goals).