It’s a Championship Saturday of sorts in the Suburban East Conference as all 10 league teams will be playing for the final pecking order in a unique one-season-only ending to the conference’s regular season.

White Bear Lake, winner of the Suburban East’s North Division, plays South Division winner Cretin-Derham Hall at 3 p.m. today at Highland Arena for the overall championship. 

The Suburban East teams were split into two divisions. Cretin-Derham Hall, Stillwater, Park of Cottage Grove, Woodbury and East Ridge comprised the North division. White Bear Lake, Roseville, Mounds View, Forest Lake and Irondale made up the south. Teams played opponents from their division twice and teams from the other division once, with two points available for each game. 

Today’s matchups were determined based on where each team finished in its division standings, with the winners playing for the overall championship, the second-place teams meeting for third place and so on.

Coaches and administrators signed off on this season’s schedule and season-ending playoff as a way to reduce the number of required conference games. In previous years, teams were locked into playing 18 conference games, allowing for only seven non-conference games. This season’s schedule made 11 non-conference games available. 

Cretin-Derham Hall coach Matt Funk said next season Suburban East teams will play each other only once, and there will be no divisions or conference playoffs. That means Suburban East teams will have 17 non-conference games, 18 if Irondale drops out of the league, as is expected.

Today’s Schedule
 

• Championship: White Bear Lake at Cretin-Derham Hall, Highland Arena, St. Paul, 3 p.m.
   
• Third Place: Roseville at Stillwater, 5:30 p.m., St. Croix Recreation Center, Stillwater, 5:30 p.m.
   
• Fifth Place: Mounds View at Park of Cottage Grove, Cottage Grove Ice Arena, Cottage Grove, 7:30 p.m.
   
• Seventh Place: Forest Lake at Woodbury, HealthEast Sports Center, Woodbury, 3 p.m.
   
• Ninth Place: Irondale at East Ridge, Cottage Grove Ice Arena, Cottage Grove, 7:30 p.m.

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