The good part about being a state tournament underdog is the lack of pressure.

Hey, it’s easy for a team to play all free and loose when nobody expects it to win.

The bad part about being a state tournament underdog is, you know, there’s a reason — or several — that your team isn’t expected to win.

As the No. 5 seed, Alexandria is taking the free-and-easy approach to this week’s state tournament. And why not?

Yes, the Cardinals (19-6-2) feature one of the tournament’s best forward tandems in Josiah Gronholz and Brycen Berg, but there’s no need to announce that to the rest of the field.

And shhhhh, don’t mention the fact the Cardinals have gone 11-0-1 in their last 12 games. Or that they outscored their three Section 6A opponents by a combined 33-4.

Or that sophomore Gavin Olson has emerged as something of a super secret playoff scoring specialist, firing home seven of his 11 goals, including the third-period winner in the section final against Fergus Falls, in his last three games.