Luverne at Marshall
7:30 p.m., Monday, Feb. 9

Is there no more love for Luverne? The Cardinals dropped their fourth game of the season a week ago, falling 5-2 at New Ulm on Jan. 30, which somehow knocked them out of the top-20 rankings in Class 1A. That’s a big fall for Luverne, which has built up some awfully impressive numbers along the way.

Eight times in 23 games, Luverne (19-4-0) has scored double-digit goals, including a 20-spot against Worthington in the game before the New Ulm loss and an 11-goal outburst against Windom Area in the game following it.

The Cardinals lead the state with 8.61 goals scored per game and have the state’s second-leading point scorer in junior Chaz Smedsrud (33-57-90). Freshman Jaxon Nelson (39-39-77) leads the team in goals, but seven players have at least 12 goals and 11 have at least 18 points. Ah, but those four losses.

Marshall (15-8-1) would like nothing more than to knock off its Class 1A, Section 3 rival and send them further tumbling. The Tigers are 4-0-1 in their last five games, although they did drop a 5-2 decision at Luverne on Dec. 2 as Smedsrud netted a hat trick. Speaking of big scorers? Marshall has three players with at least 22 goals: Derek Rasmussen (29-33-62), Blaine Moran (22-39-61) and Dylan Criquet-Danielson (26-19-45).