Watertown-Mayer doesn’t have a state tournament pedigree to match Wright County Conference foe Orono’s (zero appearances for the Royals compared to 10 for the Spartans). School enrollment favors Orono, too — 936 to 435.
After suffering just three regular-season losses last year, including a 2-0 setback to Orono, maybe this is the year Watertown-Mayer (5-0-0, 4-0-0) makes its big breakthrough. Junior Maris Heun leads the Royals offensively with six goals and four assists, and sophomore goalkeeper Hailey Volkart has allowed just three goals.
Orono, which lost 3-2 to Mahtomedi in last year’s state Class 1A state title game, looks to gain momentum in league play coming off a pair of ties — 0-0 to Breck on Sept. 8 and 1-1 to Waconia two days later. Junior Corrinne Field is among the No. 4-1A Spartans’ scoring leaders. Field had Orono's lone goal in the tie with Waconia.