Breck wins Minnesota's Class 1A girls hockey state championship

The Minnesota Star Tribune

February 22, 2026 at 8:22 PM

With seven seconds left in the Class 1A girls hockey state championship game on Saturday, a premature scream escaped from Breck’s roster of 20.

Sophomore forward Mackenna Schlieman’s goal just seconds earlier sank Warroad’s hopes of returning home to Hockeytown, USA, with another state title.

As the seconds ticked down, sticks, gloves and golden helmets flew into the air and hit the ice of Grand Casino Arena. After six years, Breck secured its fifth state title, and did it against the tournament’s No. 1 seed with a 4-1 victory.

Breck’s victory was done with the help of its star-studded sophomore lineup.

“As a little girl, you always dreamed of being the team to win and throw your gloves at the end of the tournament,” sophomore defender Alexis Ulrich said. “You want to be the team to throw your gloves at the end of the season. You want to leave your mark and your legacy.”

The Mustangs scored first with just under three minutes left in the opening period. Junior defender Molly Larson’s launch from the blue line soared over Warroad goalie and Gopher commit Payton Rolli to give Breck the momentum the team would keep.

Breck entered the final with only one regular-season loss: a 3-1 beatdown from the Warriors. Head coach Tricia Luoma said that loss set the tone for the rest of the season, and, more importantly, the state final.

“I just wanted us to play the best game that we could play and honestly wanted Warroad to play the best game that they could play,” Luoma said. “We learned a lot from that loss in early December against Warroad. We identified areas that we needed to solidify if we wanted to be successful in January and February. The players really committed to those areas, and I think that led to our success today.”

Top-scorer Schlieman extended the Mustangs’ advantage with a short-handed, unassisted tip-in in the second period.

Warroad scored its only goal in the third period. Dartmouth commit Jaylie French, boasting 27 goals this season, found the right side of the net after senior forward Taylor Reese’s shot bounced off of Breck goalie Clara Milinkovich.

It was Milinkovich, a freshman and the state’s leader in goals against average and save percentage, who made the difference — and had all season.

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“We all really appreciate her,” Luoma said. “She challenges and frustrates our players in practice daily, which is great because we face some great goaltenders here today in this tournament and all season.”

Even though a shutout wasn’t in the cards anymore, the Mustangs were intent on bringing home the trophy. Sophomore forward Ashley Babbitt’s 13th goal of the season brought Breck up 3-1 and shutdown fears of overtime with eight minutes left.

The Warroad Warriors, outshooting Breck 38-23, left Grand Casino Arena with teary eyes and the confidence that they had left it all on the ice. But it still stung, especially after last year’s state final loss to Dodge County.

“Sometimes you play close to your best, and it’s not enough,” Warroad head coach David Marvin said. “That’s the game. I thought we played pretty good. I’m happy with our girls.”