Alexandria at Sartell-St. Stephen
7:15 p.m., Friday, Feb. 6

Class 1A, Section 6 appears to be an interesting battle and has arguably the deepest playoff race among any of the state's section in the smaller class. Two of the top teams connect this Friday night when No. 6 Alexandria (18-2-1) visits No. 18 Sartell-St. Stephen (13-5-2). It’s a key seeding battle in a section that also features No. 11 Fergus Falls, No. 12 St. Cloud Apollo and No. 13 St. Cloud Cathedral. That’s five teams ranked among the top-18 in Class 1A entering February — heady territory for the St. Cloud area-based section.

Alexandria is the favorite, although the Cardinals are not unbeatable. One of their two losses came to Fergus Falls just two weeks ago, and the tie was against St. Cloud Apollo in early December. Since dropping back-to-back games to the Otters and No. 12-2A Bemidji, the Cardinals have won three straight by a combined 12-4 score.

These teams met back at the Runestone Community Center in Alexandria on Dec. 18, with the Cardinals winning 6-1. Alec Wosepka (17-8-25) and Ryan Marciniak (12-13-25) each had two goals, while Christian Reimers (16-2-1, 1.80, .920) made 19 saves.

Spencer Meier (5-21-26) score the lone goal and goalie Carter Kasianov (4-4-2, 2.86, .888) had 30 saves for Sartell-St. Stephen. Kasianov has split time in goal with senior Taylor Marthaler (9-1-0, 1.40, .917).

The Sabers have a key lead-in game Tuesday night, when they host Fergus Falls — a game that also could have been listed in the top 10 of the week.