New conference rivals will be coming for the St. Louis Park Orioles and the Benilde-St. Margaret's Red Knights in the 2021-22 season as the Metro West Conference will expand from seven teams to 10.
The Waconia Wildcats, Orono Spartans and New Prague Trojans will be moving from the Wright County Conference to the Metro West.
St. Louis Park activities director Andy Ewald gave his reaction to the new Metro West schools in the June 18 St. Louis Park/Hopkins Sun-Sailor.
"We are going into it with an open mind and be a good conference member. We know the new schools are excited about joining the conference and if we have unintended consequences, that's on us to deal with them as they come up. "
He also commented on scheduling. "It takes away our ability to schedule section opponents or other schools around us."
As for Benilde-St. Margaret's, the school will reunite with Orono since they were in the late Metro Alliance Conference and New Prague when they were part of another defunct conference, the Missota. The Red Knights have been rivals in section soccer for years and the rivalry will be revived in the 2021 soccer season. Orono is currently in Section 6A and BSM in Section 6A.
The addition of Waconia will also create a natural rivalry with both Carver County schools, Chaska and Chanhassen. The three communities are located in the vicinity of Highways 5 and 212.
The new 10 team Metro West Conference begins in 2021-22. Get ready for some inteersting conference races in the years to come.
