Lakeville South at Lakeville North
7:30 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 20

The un-Civil War for Lakeville continues this Saturday night with the first meeting between Lakeville South (1-2-1) and No. 1-2A Lakeville North (5-0-0). North coach Trent Eigner has minimized his program’s emphasis on the game, but that doesn’t mean the students, parents and players won’t be keyed up with bragging rights on the line. Since Lakeville was divided into two schools in 2005, North holds a 13-11-0 series advantage, including four wins in six playoff meetings from 2008 to 2013.

The Panthers, as the No. 1 team in the state with a perfect record, will also be favored in this one. Since opening the season by allowing five goals to Farmington, North has shown an impressive defensive game that wasn’t always evident last winter. The Panthers have allowed just two goals in the last four games, three of which have come against ranked teams (No. 2-2A Edina, No. 9-2A Burnsville, and No. 12-2A Grand Rapids). That’s a testament to the Division I talent of defensemen Jack McNeely (0-4-4), Jack Sadek (0-2-2) and Angelo Altavilla (1-1-2), who will be playing Division I baseball at Nebraska.

South has 10 goals in four games, six coming in its most recent game (6-0 win at Shakopee). The Cougars do have offensive prowess, however, led by Minnesota-Duluth commit Nick Swaney (3-4-7).