According to head coach Seija Stratton, the girls’ ultimate team will be participating in a wildcard game against Apple Valley May 22.

“It’s a wildcard game,” Stratton said. “The first 16 teams in the state make it into division one, so the three above and three below 16 are playing each other to battle it out and be in that top 16.”

According to senior captain Esther Gendler, the game against Apple Valley will determine which division the team will play in for the State tournament June 2-3.

“It’s relevant for our state seeding because it’s one of the last games we’re playing (in the) regular season and we need to know what seed we’re going in as,” Gendler said.
Stratton said the team learned new offensive strategies to prepare for the game, having previously faced Apple Valley during the Hopkins Hustle tournament.

“We learned some new offensive strategies,” Stratton said. “We faced Apple Valley at Hopkins Hustle, but unfortunately we lost to them, I think 13-6, so we’re hoping to match up more closely against them and be better prepared with what they threw at us on defense.”

According to Gendler, the game will likely be difficult because of Apple Valley’s high ranking, however she believes with effort the team will be able to match up.

“I think it’s definitely going to be a challenging game,” Gendler said. “Apple Valley is really highly ranked. They placed second in state last year but I think that if we really work hard and work together then we can keep up with them.”

Stratton said she is proud of the team’s efforts throughout the season.

“I’m just really proud of our girls and how hard they’ve worked this year. My hope for them is that they leave the field thinking that they left it all out there, that they worked together, communicated effectively, found our offensive flow and really tried hard,” Stratton said.