Princeton at Spring Lake Park
7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 23

Neither team may be ranked, but plenty will be at stake Tuesday night when Princeton visits Spring Lake Park in a key Class 1A, Section 5 seeding battle. Both are among the favorites to represent the section at the state tournament (along with last year’s champion Chisago Lakes).

Princeton (4-2-1) played to a 2-2 draw at Chisago Lakes on Dec. 16. Trailing 2-0 late in the third period, the Tigers evened the score when Tyler McAlpine (3-5-8) and George Rhode (1-3-4) tallied goals with 1 minute, 14 seconds to play. McAlpine, a junior, leads Princeton in scoring for the second consecutive year. He’s an explosive skater with great hands and a player the Tigers are counting on for a big season after graduating three other players who had more than 20 points.

Spring Lake Park (5-3-0) beefed up its schedule by moving into the Northwest Suburban Conference this winter, a move that coach Tom Benson applauded but was also wary of. There have been some big victories early on (11-3 over Osseo and 7-1 over Coon Rapids) but equally big losses (10-2 to Elk River and 7-4 to Hopkins). As expected, Deven Sunell (8-10-18) and Jacob Nystrom (11-7-18) pace the offense. The pair are the Panthers' leading returning scorers.