1. Breck (22-8)

Breck is coming off its second straight Class 1A state championship but will embark on the 2019-2020 season without standout goaltender Uma Corniea, who transferred to Edina. Forward Stella Retrum has also departed to Maple Grove. Still, the Mustangs are far from hurting for talent, featuring a roster loaded top to bottom with Division I ability. 

Senior forward Olivia Mobley (33-33-66) is verbally committed to Quinnipiac, while the Lindsay sisters, junior Sadie (30-23-53), and freshman Ava (11-28-39), have both verbally committed to Minnesota. As if three Division I commits on offense wasn’t enough, senior forward Allyson Qualley has pledged to head to Merrimack after graduation. 

The two goaltenders on the Breck roster at the moment are Belle Kelly and Sarah Peterson, with Peterson having posted a 1.33 goals-against average in five games played at this year’s Minnesota High Performance 15 camp.

2. Warroad (28-1-1)

Just as it finished last season, Warroad is second behind Breck, returning last year’s leading scorer Hannah Corneliusen and a host of talented forwards. Corneliusen recently verbally committed to Merrimack after a 48-goal and 80-point season for the Warriors. Junior forward Genevieve Hendrickson (24-31-55) has verbally committed to Franklin Pierce, and will likely finish among the top scorers in Class 1A again.

Defensive stalwart Kaitlyn Kotlowski and star goaltender Quinn Kuntz have moved on to Wisconsin and Ohio State respectively, but junior defender Karlie Meeker (7-23-30) could slide into Kotlowski’s role as the anchor of Warroad’s top defensive pair. The Warriors will be incredibly young again, with 16 eighth and ninth-graders on the roster.  

3. Proctor-Hermantown (20-8-3)

Proctor-Hermantown will have a new head coach this year, as Emma Stauber takes the reigns from Glen Gilderman after the team made back-to-back appearances in the third-place game of the Class 1A State Tournament.

The pipeline is rich in talent in the co-op, with the Mirage’s 15UA program finishing as state runner-up in 2018 and following that with a third-place finish at the 2019 state tournament. The young guns join junior forwards Alyssa Watkins (23-10-33) and Michaela Phinney (18-9-27), along with senior forward Sydney Skorich (13-7-20) as the team’s go-to players for scoring. 

Both Samantha Lewis and Ryan Gray are gone, so Vivi Helquist and Abby Pajari will attempt to fill the crease for the Mirage. In keeping with tradition, the Mirage will have one of the more challenging schedules in Class 1A, with games against Class 2A powers Edina and Blake, among others, on the docket.

4. Mound Westonka (23-2-5)

Undefeated until the Class 1A State Tournament semifinals, Mound Westonka loses perhaps its most valuable player in goaltender Taylor Smith. Smith played nearly every game of the season for the Whitehawks, winning 19 games and recording six shutouts. Senior Sara Larson played a little over 100 minutes in relief duty last year, stopping 31 of 36 shots. 

Still a young team, the Whitehawks will rely on junior forward Grace Peterson (16-25-41), sophomore Kailey Niccum (16-17-33), and freshman Sydney Leonard (15-11-26) for offensive production. Larson, mentioned above, is the lone senior on the 2019-2020 squad. If the Whitehawks get breakout seasons from a handful of underclassmen, the depth that was sorely lacking during last year’s two losses at the state tournament could be available. 

 5. Rochester Lourdes (16-11-1)

Rochester Lourdes hung around the rankings all of last year, playing a quality nonconference schedule and advancing to the Class 1A State Tournament consolation finals.

The Eagles return three of their four leading scorers from last season, including Sacred Heart verbal commit Emma Schmitz (30-32-62). Another 30-30 season from Schmitz is likely, with junior defender and Boston University verbal commit Maggie Hanzel (10-25-35) providing offense from the blue line. Senior forward Sarah Dravis dished out 23 assists and finished with 30 total points last season, and fills a second forward scoring role for the Eagles.

Goaltender Corrin Hanson is also back after playing every minute last season. Hanson totaled three shutouts and a save percentage of .894 in 2019-2020.