 For the second year in a row, the Brainerd Little Falls girls hockey team is headed to the Excel Center for the state tournament. Last year, the Warriors were bouncing the first round at state, but sports supporter Anthony Scott tells us how the Warriors are better prepared this time around. Last year, Brainerd Little Falls was just happy to play under the bright lights at the state tournament. This season, the Warriors are hungry for a title. The girls probably did feel kind of a little bit, we're just happy to be there. And so you got to kind of, you know, flip the script a little bit and say, that's not going to be enough this year. We need to go down there and compete. We need to be who we are. We need to start off, you know, with a goal of winning three games, but it does start with that first one. In round one, the three-seated Warriors will be up against White Bear Lake, whose goalie had a 50 save shutout in the section four finals. We got to make sure we are taking away her eyes. We got to make sure we have good net front presence. And we're getting, you know, kind of ugly goals. They might not be tape-to-tape, tic-tac-toe plays, but they're going to be rebound goals and we got to make sure we just bury those chances when we have them. The Warriors had a much tougher schedule this season, and they're ready to turn some heads in St. Paul. In late-night tournament, I think that we showed that we were a top team. And I think that people will be a little bit surprised. Reporting from Brainerd, Anthony Scott, Lakeland News. Puck drops at one o'clock on Thursday with the winner taking on Andover or Farmington in the semifinals. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.