Section 5AAA playoff pairings set

The playoff pairings for Section 5AAA have been set after the section coaches met to determine seeds for the playoff with Coon Rapids being seeded ninth in the 11-team section.

The top five seeds received first-round byes while the remaining six seeds will play to determine the eight teams slated for quarterfinal action.

The unanimous choice for the top seed was Centennial. With one Northwest Suburban Conference match, against Osseo, remaining on their scheduled, the Cougars have a 25-2 records, have won 16 consecutive matches and are ranked seventh in the state.

The second seed, also by a unanimous vote, went to Blaine. The Bengals are tied with Centennial in this week's state ranking at seventh and, with a conference match against Anoka slated for Tuesday, they sport a 21-4 record.

Totino-Grace received the third seed. Champions of the North Suburban Conference, the Eagles have one match remaining on their schedule and are 17-8 on the season.

The remaining two byes went to the fourth and fifth seeds, which will face off in a quarterfinal game. Osseo, 10-11 on the season with a match with Centennial and the Moorhead Invitational remaining on the schedule, will host Mounds View, 13-12, which is taking on Park Center this evening in their final match of the season.

Champlin Park, 15-10, was seeded sixth and gets a first-round match with the 11th seed, Irondale, which sports a record of 6-15.

Maple Grove, 13-8, received the seventh seed and will host 10th-seeded Rogers, 15-10.

The Cardinals, 11-15 heading into tonight's match at Legacy Christian, will travel to eighth-seeded Spring Lake Park for a first-round match.

All first-round matches will take place Wed., Oct. 27, at 7 p.m. with quarterfinal matches also being hosted by the higher seed, Fri., Oct. 29, at 7 p.m. Centennial will face the Spring Lake Park/Coon Rapids winner while Blaine gets the Maple Grove/Rogers winner and Totino-Grace will host the Champlin Park/Irondale winner.

The Section 5AAA semifinals are scheduled for Wed., Nov. 3, at Osseo, with matches slated for 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. starts. The championship game will be Sat., Nov. 6, at Blaine, at 7 p.m.

Coon Rapids Cardinals Section 5AAA Team
Front row: Student manager Zach Collins, Paige Jones, Megan Hayes, Olivia Jung, Lindsay Bratland, Aneisha DeNio, Hannah Fitzer.
Middle row: Kaitlyn Motschenbacher, Emily Tronson, Ashley Engen, Courtney Pasiowitz, Angela Koch, Kayle Witzman.
Back row: Head coach Heidi Ulwelling, assistant coach Jessia Timmons, Liz Penshorn, Chloe Jacobsen, Emily Haeska, assistant coach Tim McLean.