GHS - CLass AA


Demetra Walsma stopped 38 of 41 shots in Benilde-St. Margarets' 4-3 win over Warroad.

1. Andover (5-1) 

Welcome back, Huskies. I dropped you after losing to Gentry Academy, and you responded with a win over then-No. 1-2A Minnetonka. Since Gentry has since taken its first loss of the season, it feels only right to move the reigning Class 2A state champ back to the top spot. 

The Huskies downed previous No. 7-2A Rogers 3-1 in their lone game last week, pumpkin 41 shots on the Royals' net. The final goal of the game is attributed to goaltender Courtney Stagman, which feels, as the kids say, "sus," but nonetheless a quality win for Andover. 

2. Minnetonka (6-1) 

Chaska/Chanhassen got a taste of Minnetonka's skill last Thursday and Moorhead a double-load of the Skippers' grit on Saturday. 

The Skippers racked up eight goals in the win over the Stormhawks, then held off the No. 8-2A Spuds 2-1 in overtime on Saturday afternoon.

Minnetonka outshot the Spuds 41-15 in the win, allowing just seven shots on the goal over the final two periods. 

3. Edina (5-1) 

A pair of wins over last week's No. 6-2A team Hill-Murray and borderline top-10 Holy Family pushes Edina back into the top three. 

Lauren Zawoyski and Hannah Halverson scored one goal apiece in each game for the Hornets, with Zawoyski netting the game-winner in overtime against the Fire. Both wins came on enemy ice for the Hornets, who will now play No. 2-2A Minnetonka on Saturday, then face Maple Grove the following Saturday. 

4. Gentry Academy (5-1) 

Gentry Academy began its tour of northern Minnesota with a 6-2 victory over Roseau, then followed that up with a seven-goal outburst against No. 1-1A Warroad…which they lost. 

Reading the boxscore of Saturday's game between the Stars and Warriors calls for two Advil, two Tylenol, and a nap. Six goals were scored in period one en route to a 10-7 final in favor of the Warriors, who got five points each from Rylee Bartz and Abby Chamernick. 

I'm going back to bed after parsing through that scoresheet. 

5. Maple Grove (5-0) 

The Crimson scored twice in the first and second periods on Saturday, polishing off Northwest Suburban Conference rival Blaine 4-0 in its lone contest of the past week. 

Were it not for a 43-save performance by Blaine goaltender Hailey Hansen, the score could have been much worse, considering the Crimson outshout the Bengals 47-17.

6. Benilde-St. Margaret's (4-1) 

Wait. Did you hear that? Listen closely. 

There it was again! Are you seriously not hearing this? 

It's the sound of a team finding its stride. 

Like Gentry Academy, the Red Knights trekked to the northland for games against No. 1-1A Warroad and Roseau over the weekend, coming out of the woods with two wins and a boatload of momentum entering the second week of December. 

After some serious surgery done to the MN Girls Hockey Hub's digital scoresheet, Demetra Walsma (and not Mia Rooney, as previously reported) stopped 38 of 41 shots in the win for the Red Knights, showing exactly what she's capable of when she's at her best. Two goals from Annie Juckniess led the way offensively, with Bailey Gray and Sienna Duffy chipping in single goals. 

The Red Knights then escaped a penalty-filled affair against Roseau with a 5-3 victory, paced by two goals from the team's leading scorer Lizzy Hamel. 

7. Hill-Murray (4-1) 

Hard to knock the Pioneers too hard after splitting last week, losing to No. 3-2A Edina 3-1, and then shutting out a quality Class 1A team in South St. Paul 4-0. Blaine and Rogers are on the docket for the Pioneers this week, and a Dec. 17 matchup with Minnetonka makes for an interesting stretch for the eats metro power. 

8. Moorhead (4-2) 

"Bus legs" do not exist in Moorhead, not when you've spent your entire youth career shuttling up and down I-94 in search of consistent competition. 

The Spuds scored five times in their first game of the weekend, an eventual 8-1 win over Wayzata. 

Moorhead's second game of the weekend provides a fascinating exercise in the realm of how we value wins and losses against teams perceived to be among the elite of the elite. 

Is taking one of the state's (super) elite teams to overtime on the road worth as much as a win or tie against one of the state's (non-super) elite teams? That answer is complicated, and I'm already past deadline.

Open to arguing about it later. 

9. Rogers (2-2) 

Through four games, the Royals are right about where we thought they'd be - top-10, great goaltending, suspect scoring against other high-quality teams. 

The Royals hung six on the board in a home win over Buffalo (good), held No. 1-2A Andover to just three goals on Saturday (good), but only managed 16 shots on goal against the Huskies and went 0-4 on the power play (not good). 

The lack of success with the player advantage against good teams cannot be ignored. The Royals went 0-6 on the power play against Edina, then 0-4 against Andover. If two of the top teams in the state hand you 10 power plays, you gotta take advantage. 

10. Stillwater (4-2) 

Benefit of the doubt here for the Ponies, who scored 10 goals over their last two games, albeit against teams with a combined Suburban East Conference record of 2-7. 

A matchup against surging Benilde-St. Margaret's (4-1) will be critical for determining Stillwater's ceiling as a team going forward. 


Moorhead's Taylor Kressin finishen with 39 saves on 41 shots on Saturday, as the Spuds took No. 2-2A Minnetonka to overtime at Pagel Ice Arena.

GHS - Class A


Kambelle Freije made 23 saves in Crookston's 0-0 tie with Blaine over the weekend.

1. Warroad (7-1) 

The Warriors remain No. 1 after suffering their first loss of the season against Benilde-St. Margaret's. 

First, because I said so. 

Second, because the Warriors are still one of the top-five teams in the state, regardless of class. 

Third, after losing to the Red Knights, they went out and put up double-digits in a 10-7 win over Gentry Academy, previously the top-ranked team in Class 2A. 

2. Orono (6-1-1) 

The Spartans have been mighty impressive since falling to Warroad 3-1 on Nov. 19. 

In their last four games, the Spartans have outscored their opposition 23-1, pitching shutouts in their previous three contests.

A Saturday date with No. 3-1A Proctor/Hermantown looms large on Orono's schedule. 

3. Proctor/Hermantown (3-2) 

The Mirage fell victim to a plucky Champlin Park/Coon Rapids squad last Friday night, giving up three goals in the third period to the Bluebirds in a 5-2 loss. While CP/CR goaltender Maddie Wostrel deserves massive credit for the win with 29 saves, and admittedly the last two goals for the Bluebirds came on an empty P/H net, the Mirage "slides" to third this week. 

4. Crookston (6-0-1) 

The Pirates handed Fergus Falls a 4-1 loss on Tuesday, headed home, then meandered south again for a Friday night tilt against Blaine. 

After three periods of back-and-forth action, the Pirates and Bengals found themselves tied 0-0. After eight more minutes of seesaw swings in both momentum and scoring chances, the Pirates and Bengals (once again) found themselves scoreless. So it goes. 

The Pirates take the fight for Section 8A seeding to Warroad on Tuesday for arguably the biggest Class 1A game of the week. 

5. Holy Angels (5-0) 

The Stars earned a pair of one-goal wins last week, topping Minneapolis 3-2 and Mound Westonka/Southwest Christian 2-1. 

Holy Angels will host Prior lake on Tuesday, then take to the road for away games against Thief River Falls on Friday and top-ranked Warroad on Saturday. 

Like most teams, the Stars' battle with the Warriors will be an excellent barometer for determining just how high the Stars can fly. 


Orono's Celia Dahl has posted shutouts in each of her last three games.

15A Girls


Tonka stays at #2 after a solid effort in Blaine (pic: Tyler Jabs)

Rank Team District Last Week
1 Edina 6 LWWWW
4 Minnetonka 6 LWWWLW
2 Osseo Maple Grove 3 WWLWW
3 Wayzata 3 WW
5 Rosemount 8 WWLLW
6 Stillwater Red 2 WWWWL
7 Blaine 10 WTWLLW
8 Prior Lake 6 WLWLL
9 Andover 10 W
10 AV/BV/EV 8 WWLWW

Commentary

Not a lot of movement this week. Stillwater and Wayzata move up after good weekend's of work. The top four teams have all been very good so far this young season.

15B Girls

Rank Team District Last Week
1 Grand Rapids- Greenway 12 DNP
2 Stillwater 2 WW
3 Osseo/Maple Grove (White) 3 LWW
4 Stillwater 2 WW
5 North Wright County 5 WW
6 Moorhead 15 DNP
7 Cannon River 9 DNP
8 Orono Westonka 3 LWWWW
9 Rosemount 8 WLWW
10 East Grand Forks 16 WW

Commentary

There is still very little data in 15B, so far. Grand Rapids-Greenway doesn’t play this week, but their resume keeps them at number one. Number three Osseo/Maple Grove (White) had a huge win over number four Lakeville this week. East Grand Forks gets in at number ten, slightly over Owatonna. EGF hands Owatonna their first loss of the season. 

12A Girls


Andover is #6 in this week's rankings (pic: Molly Clough)

Rank Team District Last Week
1 Woodbury 8 WW
2 Minnetonka 6 WW
3 Grand Rapids 12 DNP
4 Centennial/SLP 10 WWWWW
5 Anoka-Rogers 10 LLWWLW
6 Andover 10 W
7 Farmington 8 TTWW
8 Alexandria 15 WWLLT
9 Hopkins/Park 3 WWW
10 Forest Lake 2 WW

Commentary

Some new blood has emerged this year...fun to see some new programs make some noise. Hopkins/Park seems legit, they are off to a 13-1-1 start. Grand Rapids did not play a sanctioned game last weekend, the Lightning remain undefeated.

12B Girls

Rank Team District Last Week
1 Marshall 4 WW
2 Fergus Falls 15 WWW
3 Minnetonka (Black) 6 WW
4 Minnesota River 9 WW
5 River Lakes 5 WW
6 Edina (Green) 6 TL
7 St. Paul 2 WWW
8 Minnetonka (Blue) 6 W
9 Anoka-Rogers (White) 10 WWWW
10 Rock RIdge 12 WWLW

Commentary

Top five stays the exact same, as they all take care of business this week. St. Paul is up one spot this week, they are on fire- currently 12 game win streak. Anoka-Rogers (White) enters the rankings this week at number nine- they win the title of their home tournament.

10A Girls


The Preds are #8 this week (pic: Aiden Cook)

Rank Team District Last Week
1 Anoka-Rogers 10 WWW
2 Roseville/Mahtomedi 2 WWL
3 Forest Lake 2 WWW
4 Andover 10 W
5 Bloomington 6 T
6 Lakeville 8 W
7 Rochester 9 LWW
8 Woodbury 8 LW
9 Centennial/Spring Lake Park 10 LWLW
10 Edina 6 WT

Commentary

Our first 10A rankings are a bit of a stab in the dark. That said, we see that #1 Anoka-Rogers upended previously undefeated Roseville-Mahtomedi in the Anoka tourney Sunday.  Forest Lake is red hot, the Rangers have won seven straight over some tough opponents.

10B Girls

Rank Team District Last Week
1 Elk River 10 DNP
2 Roseville/Mahtomedi (Blue) 2 W
3 Hopkins/Park 3 WW
4 Willmar 5 W
5 Roseville/Mahtomedi (Silver) 2 WWWWW
6 Hastings 8 WWL
7 Fergus Falls 15 DNP
8 Armstromg Cooper (Red) 3 WLW
9 Marshall 9 DNP
10 Cloquet (Purple) 11 LWWW

Commentary

Not a ton of data is yet in the system. For the first week, Elk River is the number one team in U10B. Number five Roseville/Mahtomedi (Silver) had a solid weekend, winning the Hastings tournament.