(ABC 6 News) – In a clean 4-0 Wednesday victory over Fergus Falls, the Dodge County Wildcats are moving onto the semi-finals in the Minnesota State High School League Class A Girls Hockey Tournament.

The Wildcats outshot the Otters 30 to 9, with McKenna LaFleur and Maysie Koch notching the team’s first two State tournament goals. Despite going 1 out of 3 on power play opportunities, Dodge County’s defense held fast in two penalty kills to silence Fergus Falls.

Nora Carstensen had a 3-point outing, scoring twice in the third while assisting on Koch’s goal as Ida Huber recorded her 10th shutout of the season as a goalie.

LET'S DO THAT HOCKEY!

It's time for #3 @dcwildcats10 to make its State Tournament debut!

DC is set to play Fergus Falls in the Class A Quarterfinals, @ABC6NEWS will have afternoon coverage and highlights at 6! pic.twitter.com/COd1TbYNyL

— José Solís 📹 (@JoseTweetSports) February 21, 2024

“I think just having a really strong penalty kill like we do — we have all season,” Carstensen spoke postgame. “I think that having a good goaltender too, we just all know what each other can do and know our roles.”

“After our final, when we won the section final, we had our first practice back, we saw the scoresheet, went into the locker room and ripped it up,” Head Coach Jeremy Gunderson recounted. “And said, ‘It’s done. We’re moving forward, right now, we’re going to win the State Championship.’ So, I think that’s mentality we’ve had for two years with this group and they all buy in and believe and they’re just great kids.”

“We get up at 6 AM, we put in work before school, we put in work after school,” LaFleur discussed. “We finally earned something. We earned a spot at the State Tournament and to go out and to show people what we can do, it’s just an amazing feeling.”

“Today, walking out seeing that student section, band, all of my family cheering for me,” Huber reflected. “It’s just so awesome and so different than the last time I was here.”

The Dodge County Wildcats will play against second-seed Orono on Friday at 11 a.m. It will be a rematch of a Jan. 20th contest in Orono, a game the Wildcats lost 5-4 in overtime.

The MSHSL tournament finals and semi-finals can be watch live on TV on Channel 6 or online HERE.