Lucy Morgan is settling in just fine for the Maple Grove Crimson. 

The junior goaltender is currently filling the skates of departed netminders Breanna Blesi and Coco Francis, who now patrol the pipes at Division I programs Wisconsin and Union College respectively. 

“Lucy’s outstanding,” Crimson coach Amber Hegland said of her goaltender. 

“She’s a goalie who’s tremendously driven and focused. When the puck is not in our zone, she’s focused and ready and thinking about how the puck is going to get back to her,” Hegland continued. 

“She’s a student of the game.”

A player who studies film of herself after practice, Morgan earned her fourth shutout of the season on Thursday night, blanking Eden Prairie 1-0 behind a 23-save performance and helping her team rebound after back-to-back losses to Blaine and Elk River/Zimmerman.

“I feel like I’ve definitely improved on reading the play,” Morgan said after the win, echoing her coaches observations. 

“The competition level is obviously different from North Dakota, where I’m originally from,” Morgan added. 

The Mandan, North Dakota native has played every game so far for the Crimson (6-4), recording a sparkling save percentage of .941 in addition to her four blank sheets, and says that the reputation of Maple Grove girls’ hockey inspires her to play her best. 

“It’s fun to see that there’re national players last year that came from this program,” Morgan said, referring to former Crimson forward and now Golden Gopher Taylor Wente, who’s spent time with the U.S. Women’s National Under-18 squad.   

The win gives the Crimson, ranked No. 8 in the latest Class 2A state coaches’ poll, a record of 4-1 in games decided by one goal, a statistical byproduct of what Hegland calls her team’s internal scoreboard. 

“I think we’re more dialed in to just what we need to do to be successful and thinking about our true score, which is inside ourselves and did we give everything to the pursuit than we are about the scoreboard, ” Hegland said. 

Junior forward and Minnesota-Duluth commit Mannon McMahon scored the lone goal of the game for the Crimson, snatching a misplayed puck from the Eagles on her own blue line and going five-hole on senior Eden Prairie backstop Alexa Dobchuk late in the first period.

The loss snaps a four-game winning streak for the No. 9-2A Eagles (6-3-1).