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KASSON — Jeremy Gunderson knows exactly who Jayda Moyer is as a player.
Moyer, a senior at Albert Lea High School, has ascended over the past three years to become one of the best goalies in southern Minnesota and in the state.
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Gunderson has paid close attention to Moyer’s progress, knowing that his Dodge County girls hockey team was likely to face Moyer at some point before she graduates this spring.
He was right.
“She’s not the biggest kid, but she’s fast, stays on her feet, tracks the puck well,” Gunderson said.
Gunderson knows a great goalie when he sees one, and he sees one every day in practice.
Like Moyer, Dodge County senior Ida Huber has developed into one of the best in the state. She’s committed to Division I Long Island University and has spent much of this season leading the state in a couple of major statistical categories.
Thursday, for just the second time in their high school careers, Huber and Moyer will go head-to-head. Huber’s No. 2-ranked and top-seeded Wildcats (20-3-2 overall) are scheduled to meet Moyer’s No. 7-ranked and second-seeded Tigers (21-4-1) at 7:30 p.m. at Four Seasons Centre in Owatonna, in the Section 1, Class 1A championship game.
The winner goes to next week’s Class 1A state tournament at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
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“Ida’s really locked things down in net for us, the last few years,” Gunderson said. “She’s always been true and steady and the last couple years has really been tuned in. Anytime you talk about a kid having 11 shutouts in a season and 34 in her career, you know that’s a product of playing good hockey and a work ethic.”
Tuesday, Huber and Moyer were both named to the list of 10 semifinalists for the 2025 Jori Jones Award, given annually to the state’s top senior goalie. That award will be presented on Feb. 23 during the Miss Hockey banquet at the River Centre in downtown St. Paul. When that field is pared down, Huber should be among the five finalists, based upon her statistics this season, and her history.
Indeed, the numbers don’t lie for either goalie in Thursday’s title game.
Moyer has played all but two periods this season, compiling a 21-4-1 record. She is tied for second in the state in wins (21), is sixth in goals-against average (1.13) and save percentage (.947) and is second in shutouts (10).
Huber, meanwhile, has been even slightly better, against a demanding schedule. She has played every minute in goal for Dodge County, going 20-3-2 and leading the state (regardless of class) in GAA (0.79), save percentage (.960) and shutouts (11).
The one number that Moyer has in her favor: One. As in, career games played and career victories against the Wildcats. That one was a big one — a 3-2 overtime win two years ago in the section final. Dodge County outshot Albert Lea 30-11 in that game, but Moyer made 28 and was key in the Tigers limiting the Wildcats to a 1-for-9 night on the power play.
Even though Dodge County won a section title a year ago and advanced all the way to the state championship game, that OT loss to Albert Lea two years ago still stings. No one in the Wildcats locker room will be looking past the Tigers.
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“We still talk about that game two years ago,” Gunderson said. “I think the girls still have that one circled; they want to make up for that loss two years ago, but they know it won’t be easy. I think for (us) this game might have more hype, more meaning than a state tournament game right now, with our mindset, because it’s a big rival in a section championship game.”
Thursday’s game will be the first meeting between the teams since that section final in 2023. Albert Lea and Dodge County haven’t played in the regular season the past two years, and they didn’t meet in the playoffs a year ago, when Simley knocked off Albert Lea in the section semifinals.
Still, Dodge County’s players know what to expect — 12 of them were on the roster two years ago.
“We have a lot of returning players who’ve been in that spot before,” Dodge County senior forward and captain Hannah Peterson said of playing in a section final. “The players who haven’t been there know what that pressure is like, from listening to those veteran players. We know what we need to do, and we need to go there and finish.”
It’s not only a matchup of two of the state’s best goalies, but it’s one of the best offenses in the state against one of the best defenses.
Albert Lea is second in the entire — and first in Class 1A — in goals per game (5.31), while Dodge County is the best in the state in goals allowed per game (0.84).
“We definitely expect a physical game,” Peterson said. “We’ve had physical teams that we’ve played this year, and (coach) Gunderson has prepared us for that. We’ll do a lot of video this week … we’ll be working hard in, being gritty in practice, so I think we’ll be ready to go.”
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Who: No. 2 seed Albert Lea (21-4-1) vs. No. 1 seed Dodge County (20-3-2)
What: Section 1, Class 1A girls hockey championship game
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday
Where: Four Seasons Centre, Steele County Fairgrounds, Owatonna
At stake: The winner advances to the Class 1A state tournament, set for Feb. 19-22 at the Xcel Energy Center and Tria Rink in St. Paul.
Tickets: $10 adults, $6 students. Available online at this link, or at the door with a credit card (no cash sales).
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