Lakeville South at Lakeville North
7:00 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 23

It’s civil war in Lakeville as South invades North for this final game before Christmas.

Lakeville North has held the upper hand in recent memory and enters this meeting as the favorite.

However, the No. 8-2A Panthers - the defending Class 2A state champions - have struggled in losing two of their first three games to the new season.

But they have since settled in and won their last three, including a 4-3 victory over No. 9-2A Grand Rapids and back-to-back 6-0 routs over South Suburban Conference mates Apple Valley and Rosemount.

Lakeville North seems to have found a No. 1 goalie, for now, in junior Buzz Eigner, who is 3-1 with a 1.95 goals-against average and a .879 save percentage.

Offensively, Ryan Poehling (6-12-18) leads the team in points while Max Johnson (9-4-13) has been the top goal scorer.

Lakeville South (2-3) also struggled to start the season, dropping its first three games before wins over Shakopee and No. 17-2A Farmington got the Cougars going.

Lakeville South is led in scoring by Noah Rasinski and Joe Novak, who each have four goals on the season.