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Quarterfinal preview: Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato vs. East Grand Forks

By LOREN NELSON, Special to the Star Tribune, 03/29/21, 4:45PM CDT

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The teams play at 1 p.m. Tuesday at Xcel Energy Center.

LITCHFIELD/DASSEL-COKATO (10-8-2) vs. NO. 3 EAST GRAND FORKS (13-8), 1 p.m.

Scouting the Dragons: Senior Logan Benson, the team’s top scorer with 25 points, endured a maddening midseason stretch during which his shots seemed strangely attracted to iron. “He hit six or seven pipes in that span,” Dragons coach Brice Berggren said. “The puck just wasn’t bouncing his way.” Benson had a hat trick in LDC’s 4-3 section championship win over archrival Hutchinson. Senior Darby Halonen, a four-year mainstay in goal, was the starter when the Dragons last reached the tourney, in 2018.

Scouting the Green Wave:  East Grand Forks played its first six games against North Dakota schools, losing four of them to either eventual North Dakota champion Grand Forks Central or runner-up Grand Forks Red River. Senior Landon Parker (21 goals, 21 assists) is the Green Wave’s top scorer. Junior defenseman Trey Ausmus (33 points) and sophomore forward Jaksen Panzer (31 points) are North Dakota commits.

Worth knowing: Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato hangs jersey No. 1 behind its bench every game as a tribute to goalie Dustin Falling, who had just completed his sophomore year when he died in a car accident last June.

LOREN NELSON

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