Feb. 8—1. Willow Harens, Dodge County: The speedy seventh-grade center recorded her first varsity hat trick and added an assist, for a four-point game. She now has nine goals and 14 points this season.
2. Grace Roethler, Dodge County: The junior forward doubled her points total for the season, scoring one goal and assisting on two others. She now has six points this season — one goal, five assists.
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3. Sophia Buesking, Dodge County: The junior defender and varsity veteran showed off her offensive ability, scoring two goals and adding an assist. She now has 15 points this season, including four goals.
——KASSON — As the Dodge County girls hockey team chases a third consecutive Section 1, Class 1A championship, it has to have Faith.
That’s Faith Humphrey, the team’s starting goalie, who has developed into the Wildcats’ backbone, someone they can’t do without.
Humphrey had some massive skates to fill this winter, after five-year starter, multiple-time All-State selection and state champion goalie Ida Huber graduated and moved on to Division I Long Island University.
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Huber passed the torch to Humphrey and the junior netminder has passed this season’s tests with flying colors.
The latest evidence: Humphrey stopped three shots through two periods on Saturday night before ceding the net to backup Rylee Tiefenbach — who made six saves in the final period — at the Dodge County Ice Arena as the top-seeded and No. 2-ranked Wildcats beat No. 4 seed Austin 15-0 in a Section 1, Class 1A semifinal game.
“I feel like she’s definitely come a long way,” Dodge County co-captain and senior defender Kylie Meyer said of Humphrey. “She’s such a positive player, and she definitely (feels comfortable) talking more now than she did at the beginning of the season. She really lifts up the whole team.”
Saturday’s win moves Dodge County (19-6-1) into Thursday’s 5 p.m. section championship game against a familiar foe: No. 2-seeded Albert Lea. The game will be played at the Four Seasons Centre on the Steele County Fairgrounds in Owatonna.
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It will mark the third time in four years that these rivals will meet with a trip to the Class 1A state tournament on the line. In 2023, Albert Lea stunned Dodge County 3-2 in overtime, in a game in which Dodge County outshot the Tigers 30-11, and had nine power-play opportunities. In 2025, the Wildcats turned the tables and beat the Tigers 4-2 to advance to state, ultimately winning their first state championship.
Thursday will mark Humphrey’s first go-around in this rivalry. The teams didn’t meet in the regular season.
“We just have to keep her from thinking too much about it,” Meyer said of Thursday’s matchup, “because it’s just another game. We have to show up right away, come out way faster as a team than we did (against Austin). … It’s just playing hockey; we know she’ll do well.”
Humphrey has played all but 64 minutes (fewer than four periods) in goal this winter. She brings a 19-6-1 record, a 1.48 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage into Thursday’s title game. The win against Austin on Saturday marked her ninth shutout this season.
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Over the past seven games — six of them victories — Humphrey has a 6-1-0 record, a 0.75 GAA, a .950 save percentage and four shutouts.
“She’s understanding the need for consistency,” Dodge County coach Jeremy Gunderson said. “She understands what it takes to be a varsity goalie, from the practice aspect, to the mental side and sleeping enough, the time that it takes and just the grind. She’s had her ups and downs through the year, like most kids in their first year of varsity when you become a top role player. She has worked a lot in practice, put in the extra time.”
As Humphrey’s confidence has grown this season, so has her teammates’ faith (no pun intended) in her.
“A lot of it for her is just the experience she’s had down the (regular season) stretch this year, playing against (No. 1-ranked) Breck, Holy Family, Hill-Murray, and bigger teams like that,” Gunderson said. “Getting games like that gives you some perspective. And it’s just reminding the kids ‘you’ve seen this level of play numerous times. For her, it’s just staying focused and worrying about herself and her play.”
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Fourteen players provided Dodge County’s offense in Saturday’s section semifinals, helping the Wildcats advance to a fourth consecutive Section 1-1A championship game. After falling to Albert Lea in 2023, the Wildcats beat Simley 5-2 in the 2024 title game, and then beat Albert Lea 4-2 last year.
Seventh-grader Willow Harens had a four-point game against Austin, with her first varsity hat trick and one assist. Junior Maysie Koch also had a four-point night (two goals, two assists), while Zoe Heimer (two goals, one assist), Grace Roethler (one goal, two assists), Sophia Buesking (two goals, one assist) and Alexa Van Straaten (one goal, two assists) had three points apiece.
Austin finishes its season with a 10-15-2 record. The Packers’ future looks bright, too, as they had no seniors on this year’s team, and just two juniors. Leading scorer Sawyer Loucks is just an eighth-grader and second-leading scorer Lauren Bowe is a sophomore. And goalie Lily Haedt (55 saves) is just a freshman.
“It was good to see all our kids get playing time,” Gunderson said, “and Austin has a really good young team that could probably make some noise soon. Their goaltender did a great job, made a lot of great saves while she was getting peppered.
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“But for us getting back to the section final is great. It shows the hard work the kids put in the regular season and it’s a chance for us to go back to the Grand (Casino Arena, site of the state tournament). It’s not going to be an easy task. Albert Lea will put their time in and do homework and be ready to go.”
SECTION 1A SEMIFINAL
DODGE COUNTY 15, AUSTIN 0
Austin 0-0-0 — 0
Dodge Co. 3-10-2 — 15
No. 4 Austin: Goalies: Lily Haedt (49:29) 51 saves-66 shots; Chloe Schaal (1:31) 1 save-1 shot.
No. 1 Dodge County: Maysie Koch 2 goals, 2 assists; Zoe Heimer 2 goals, 1 assist; Willow Harens 3 goals, 1 assist; Grace Roethler 1 goal, 2 assists; Bryn Spreiter 1 goal, 1 assist; Alexa Van Straaten 1 goal, 2 assists; Sophia Buesking 2 goals, 1 assist; Maren Hodgman 1 assist; Josie Fulton 1 assist; Kylie Meyer 1 goal; Daisy Harens 1 goal, 1 assist; Nora Smith 1 assist; Taryn Wernecke 1 assist; Adyn Spreiter 1 goal. Goalies: Faith Humphrey (34:00) 3 saves-3 shots; Rylee Tiefenbach (17:00) 6 saves-6 shots.
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