Randy Koeppl's phone buzzes. It's his daughter, Taylor.  

"Why's my kid calling me?" 

Taylor's muffled voice over the phone explains that Koeppl's golden retriever and border collie/lab mix have gotten loose (again) and are currently roaming a neighbor's backyard.

Koeppl offers optimistic instructions, shrugs and returns to the task at hand — explaining how, as the head coach of Holy Family Catholic, he's effectively building a program from scratch in the small town of Victoria, located just west of Paisley Park.  

"Two years ago, when we came in, if nothing would've happened and we were still (a co-operative) with Waconia, Holy Family would have three girl hockey players if none of these (other) girls would've come," Koeppl said. 

These girls are from Rosemount. From Eden Prairie. From Edina. They've migrated to the Fire program because of what Koeppl and his staff are building. 

"I've been blessed with families coming in and being on board," Koeppl said. "I haven't had to deal with a lot of crap. These parents see the path," Koeppl continued, referring to the path to playing college hockey after graduating from Holy Family. 

The route to the collegiate level is paved with growing pains, perhaps even more so considering the Fire will trot out one of the youngest rosters in the state for the 2019-2020 season, their third at the Class 2A level.  

"We're still gonna be forever young," Koeppl said. "It's been tough because these kids have had to grow up faster. It's not normal for an eighth-grader or seventh-grader to be playing, and be playing the kind of minutes these kids are, even though they're extremely talented."

With several players skating this fall in the Upper Midwest Girls High School Elite League, the Fire went 16-8-3 last season and return seven of its nine leading scorers, plus goaltender Sedona Blair, one of the top netminders in the class of 2023. Blair split time with now-junior Alex Pellici last season, but with Pellici opting to play for the Holy Family boys' program, Blair has the inside track to the starting job.

The Fire fell to Shakopee in the first round of the Class 2A, Section 2 playoffs.  

Taking into account the program's overwhelming youth, Koeppl and his staff have had a blank slate, a canvas with which to paint with their preferred methods. Among them is increased flexibility when it comes to strategy. 

High schools with youth feeder programs can implement systems and philosophies from the earliest stages through high school. Without a single association populating the Fire roster, Koeppl has gotten creative with the Fire's playing style. 

"If you come and scout us one game, we'll be doing something different the next game," Koeppl explained. "We game-plan. We scout a lot, we watch a lot of games, and we mix stuff up. In Eden Prairie and in Edina, they don't have to change. It's kind of like, here's my fastball, can you hit it or not?"

Without a "fastball" honed over years of consistent messaging from 8U to high school, the Fire relies heavily on trust. 

"We give our defense a lot of freedom," Koeppl said. "With the goaltending that we have, that allows us to do that."

Koeppl trusts his youth-dominated group to adapt and excel to numerous playing environments and situations, while his players trust Koeppl and the coaching staff to maximize their hockey careers. 

"We have twelve, thirteen kids that want to play Division I hockey," Koeppl said. "We put things into place to get them seen. We're putting stuff together right now to send out to every DI school in the country," Koeppl continued. "We're putting that extra effort in to get these kids where they wanna go."

One of those players with collegiate aspirations (and legitimate interest from Division I schools) is Koeppl's daughter, the aforementioned lost-dog-locator Taylor, the Fire's leading scorer from last season with 12 goals and 31 points. 

"It's interesting. I enjoy it—most of the time," Koeppl says with a grin when asked about coaching his daughter. "She's had a pretty good run so far, and it's nice to have a front-row seat for that."

Having your child playing top minutes as an eighth-grader is a gamble for any coach, but Koeppl's performance has muted any possible criticism from outsiders. "She held up her end of the bargain last year," Koeppl said. 

Koeppl's experience playing for legendary coaches Greg Trebil in bantams, Tom Saterdalen at Bloomington Jefferson high school, and Doug Woog at the University of Minnesota allowed him a glimpse at how bench bosses handle their talented offspring when the stakes are highest. 

"You never knew who their kids were," Koeppl said of the trio, not meaning the sentiment literally but as an observation of how the coaches treated their kids the same way they handled the rest of the team. Koeppl added that sharing a last name with the head coach carries its own set of expectations. "I think it's tough on (Taylor) sometimes because she knows she's always being watched. I was happy with the way she responded last year. I think Mom was, too," Koeppl said.

Guiding college athlete-hopefuls and navigating the choppy waters of coaching your daughter are heavy topics, but there's always room for fun in the Holy Family program. Levity and exuberance go hand-in-hand with increased expectations and pressure. 

Koeppl admits that locker-room dance parties are a primary method of keeping things light within the program. 

"Well, I'm not a part of it," Koeppl explains. "I'm not in the locker room that much, but yes, they do (dance). They have a lot of fun," Koeppl said.

"If you make the culture as healthy as you can, and they're all having fun, and they're dancing and all that type of stuff, then they're going to want to be a part of it," Koeppl said.

There's that trust thing again. 

Koeppl trusts his players to execute his systems and maintain positive team chemistry. Parents of players trust Koeppl to put their daughters and the team in the best position to succeed. Players trust Koeppl to help them live out their hockey dreams beyond Victoria.

That's one hell of an emotional hurricane to be in the middle of, but Koeppl has boiled it down to a simple promise to those relying on him.   

"If you come in, you give this team and this program everything you've got, and we'll do everything and then some to get you there."