Warroad Warriors win coveted Minnesota girls hockey state title
WARROAD, Minn. (BVM) – The Warroad Warriors girls hockey team does not have many sayings, but it does have one that has been on its practice jerseys for sixteen years as well as its locker room wall: ‘It’s fun to win.’
“It’s just the truth,” Warroad head coach David Marvin said.
Marvin first got the saying from John Hanson, a former Warroad Laker from Marvin’s playing days. The saying stuck and Warroad has lived by it for almost two decades now.
“It’s fun to win but you don’t get that fun and you don’t get to win unless you put that hard work in,” Marvin said.
The Warriors once again showed the truth behind that saying this season by not only going 26-3-1, but also winning the MSHSL Class A state championship. Warroad did so in dominant fashion winning 6-1 against Proctor/Hermantown. It was the long-awaited return of a title to Hockey Town, U.S.A. since the Warriors’ back-to-back state titles in 2010 and 2011.
“I can’t over-emphasize how many times we were close with real good teams,” Marvin said.
That includes last year’s team that lost to Herman/Proctor in the state semifinals. The last 11 years have seen so many teams come close but fall short for a wide array of reasons.
“We’ve been there so many times since we won it in 2011,” Marvin said. “Winning is special and it’s not a guarantee. It doesn’t matter how good you are. Winning is special and to do it is obviously gratifying.”
It is hard but this year’s team has found a way to push through the adversity and find a way to win. In the state title game, the Warriors were down 1-0 after the first period but Warroad was unphased. They went into the locker room, the coaches talked but so did the leaders of the team and what those girls said set the tone for the rest of the championship.
“Our players and our captains, especially Maddy Lavergne, they’re the ones, what they said was more impactful,” Marvin said. “I can’t take credit for what was said between periods because our kids and our captains did that.”
The Warriors then scored six unanswered goals, including four in the second period, and those same girls that took charge in the locker room led the way on the ice, too. Lavergne had two goals. Kate Johnson, the team’s leading goal scorer, also had two and Tayla Hendrickson, who led the state in assists, had a goal herself.
“The kids played so darn good when it mattered,” Marvin said.
That was a huge reason Warroad was able to get the job done, the girls played their best hockey at the end of the season in the biggest games. And they not only played for themselves, but for all the people that have supported them.
It is a community that takes pride in being known as Hockey Town, U.S.A. and all of that goes into what it means to wear a Warroad Warriors jersey. It is an honor that Marvin and his coaching staff makes sure to emphasize each year.
“We have so much pride in our jersey,” Marvin said. “The Warriors mean a lot to us and every night out we try to represent that. We never forget that it’s a privilege to wear that jersey.”
But for Marvin and the Warriors, it’s not just about the name on the front of the jersey. It’s also about the one on the back.
“Your biggest fans are your parents, grandparents, siblings and close relatives,” Marvin said. “You play for that name on the back of your jersey 100% because that’s who’s cheering for you so you go play for them.”
The families are so important to the success that the Warriors have had. The parents are willing to drive almost 350 miles to the Twin Cities so that the girls can play against the best. The sacrifices each family makes so that the girls and the team can have success does not go unnoticed.
“If you have a good high school team in a small town that means you have great parents,” Marvin said. “The parents did a lot of things in the offseason.”
“This is a shared title amongst all the families.”
They were also willing to head down to the Twin Cities in the middle of the season to play Andover, Eastview and Chisago Lakes in three days. The Warriors had three games canceled and had to make them up.
On Thursday, they played Andover, the eventual Class AA state champions, in a tight game that they ended up losing 3-1. They then beat Eastview and Chisago Lakes on Friday and Saturday, both respectable Class AA teams.
It was a turning point for Warroad.
“I really felt like we were building a lot of momentum on that trip and everyone was starting to buy into what we were preaching,” Marvin said. “They showed me what they were made of and that they weren’t going to be denied.”
The Warriors weren’t denied. They went out and won a state title for themselves, their teammates, their families and the community. The Warroad Warriors are bringing a title to Hockey Town.
