No. 5-1A Duluth Marshall at Virginia/MIB
7:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 6
At Miners Memorial Arena, Virginia

Who saw this coming? If you ask Virginia/Mt. Iron-Buhl coach Reed Larson, he’ll admit he thought his Blue Devils would be sneaky good this year. Turns out he was right, as Virginia/MIB enters February with a shot at earning a top seed in the Section 7A race that also includes Hermantown and Thursday’s foe, Duluth Marshall, both state tournament teams last winter. Virginia is unbeaten in Section 7A play and 15-6-1 overall, including shutouts of Duluth Denfeld and International Falls and a 3-2 defeat of rival Hibbing/Chisholm. But this is the Blue Devils’ toughest section test to date. Colton Anderson (15-16-31) and Travis Kemp (11-19-30) anchor Virginia/MIB’s offense and will need to come up big against Marshall, while veteran Lucas Murray (12-6-1, 2.40, .919) has been solid in goal. That combination worked in the team’s last game, a 3-1 upset of Grand Rapids on Jan. 31. Anderson scored two late third-period goals and Murray made 31 saves on 32 shots.