1. Centennial/Spring Lake Park (8-0) 

One of four undefeated teams remaining in the state, the Cougars vault into the top spot following Edina’s loss to Minnetonka and a trio of Northwest Suburban Conference wins. The Cougars beat Rogers, Elk River, and last week’s No. 4-2A Andover by a combined score of 18-1. 

2. Hill-Murray (7-1) 

The Pioneers not only thumped Class 1A State Tournament hopeful South St. Paul 8-1 but also picked up a win over Holy Family, which was ranked No. 7-2A last week.

The top line of Emily Pohl, Jaycee Chatleain, and Elliana Engelhardt remains must-see action. The sophomores have combined for 28 of the team’s 49 goals so far this season. 

3. Minnetonka (7-1-1) 

Does life ever sneak up on you and score three times on four power-play chances? No? Count yourself lucky, comrade.

The Skippers converted on three chances with the player advantage in their win over previously top-ranked Edina last week, their third win since the previous rankings were published. Last week also included victories over Alexandria and Buffalo. 

Six Skippers have now reached double-digit points. 

4. Edina (5-2) 

The Hornets had earned shutout wins over North Wright County (4-0) and Wayzata (3-0) before losing to the Skippers. 

The Hornets have two of three games at home this week after a five-game road stretch, hosting Eden Prairie and Farmington before making the short drive to Richfield to face Holy Angels.

5. Benilde-St. Margaret’s (5-1-1) 

The Red Knights torched Farmington 7-0 in their lone game of the cycle, and will take on Andover Thursday and Bemidji Saturday over the next week.

6. Andover (4-3)

Andover bumps down this week after losing to Centennial/Spring Lake Park, a 9-0 win over Robbinsdale Armstrong/Cooper be darned.  

Don’t worry, the Huskies will get their chance to move back up if they can pull off the win over Benilde-St. Margaret’s. Six of Andover’s seven games this season have ended in a shutout - either in the Huskies’ favor or not - and the Huskies have scored once in three losses. 

7. Holy Family (6-2) 

Holy Family remains ahead of Moorhead by sickle’s length, thanks in large part to the Fire having a win over a top-10 team and Spuds still searching for theirs. The Fire had its five-game winning streak snapped in a 4-1 loss to No. 2-2A Hill-Murray, although it should be noted that the score was tied until the 12:54 mark of the third period. Two of the Pioneers’ four goals also came via empty net. 

8. Moorhead (4-2-1) 

The Spuds salvaged a tie with Maple Grove on Friday, drawing with the Crimson 1-1 thanks to 35 saves from Taylor Kressin. The Spuds are still digging for that signature win, and will have a chance this Saturday against No. 9-2A Roseau. 

9. Roseau (8-2) 

Madi Lisell picked up back-to-back shutouts last week as the Rams topped Buffalo 2-0 and St. Cloud 3-0. On paper, one could assume those scores could have been higher, given that the Rams ran into a pair of standout goaltenders. Ava Jovan stopped 33 of 35 shots for Buffalo, while Jordan Bovy made 26 saves for the Crush. 

10. Champlin Park/Coon Rapids (5-4) 

You’re not getting booted from the communal apartment quite yet, Bluebirds. 

CP/CR stays this week even after a 3-2 loss to Warroad. Maple Grove is hovering, but the Bluebirds own the season series at the moment, and the Warriors would likely rank higher than No. 10 in a mixed-class ranking.

1. Dodge County (7-0-1) 

The Wildcats held on for a 2-1 win over Mound Westonka/Southwest Christian last week, just another rung on the strength-of-schedule ladder. Dodge County will hit the road for games against Blake and Owatonna this week, two opponents who only consider themselves underdogs on paper. 

2. Warroad (6-1) 

Warroad moves up to No. 2-1A after beating No. 10-2A Champlin Park/Coon Rapids over the weekend. The Warriors also beat Gentry Academy 3-0 during this metro swing. 

Warroad will again make the drive to the Twin Cities area this coming weekend, a date with No. 6-2A Andover on the books.

3. Holy Angels (6-1-1)

The Stars beat Mound Westonka/Southwest Christian and New Prague by a combined score of 13-0 last week. Up next are Bloomington Jefferson, Chaska/Chanhassen, and then No. 4-2A Edina.  

4. Orono (7-2-2) 

After their tie with Holy Angels, the Spartans blasted Chaska/Chanhassen 16-2 and No. 6-1A Proctor/Hermantown 6-1 to close the week with a 2-0-1 record. Senior forward and Minnesota State commit Zoe Lopez finished the two-game stretch against the Stormhawks and Mirage with eight points. 

5. Mound Westonka/Southwest Christian (4-3) 

I hate to get into the "my loss is better than your loss" argument, but the fact remains that the White Hawks took top-ranked Dodge County to the brink in a 2-1 defeat last week. The White Hawks also lost to Holy Angels 4-0, but those two losses against top Class 1A teams came by a combined total of five goals, the same disparity between Proctor/Hermantown and a single opponent (Orono).

6. Proctor/Hermantown (8-3) 

Wins over Delano/Rockford and Grand Rapids/Greenway ran the Mirage's winning streak to six games before Orono spoiled the hot streak in a 6-1 Mirage loss. Hibbing/Chisholm and No. 9-1A South St. Paul are on the docket for this week. 

7. Breck (6-2) 

The Mustangs ran their winning streak to four games with a 5-0 shutout of Northern Tier last week. Breck scored four times in the third period to pull away for the win, and eighth-grade goaltender Clara Milinkovich continues to impress with her second blank sheet of the season. 

8. Albert Lea (8-1) 

After scoring 12 times in wins over Mankato West (7-0) and Minneapolis (5-1) last week, the Tigers will face a challenge in their next two games. Both contests are against Northfield, with the Tigers playing host this Tuesday and then heading to the Raiders' home ice the following week.

9. South St. Paul (6-3) 

The Packers maintain the Class 1A status quo this week even after being running-timed by No. 2-2A Hill-Murray. A 6-3 win over White Bear Lake soothes the pain of the Pioneer loss a little, but a "prove it" week gives the Packers a chance to put the rest of Class 1A on notice. 

Tilts with fifth-ranked Mound Westonka/Southwest Christian and No. 6-1A Proctor/Hermantown are must-see games.

10. Marshall (10-0) 

We're in quite the pickle here with Marshall. 

On the one hand, the Tigers are one of four remaining undefeated teams and boast Brooklyn Mauch, who is tied with Mercury Bischoff for the state's scoring lead with 32 points. 

On the other, Marshall doesn't have a top-10 win, and its next three opponents have a combined record of 7-17. 

The Tigers appear talented enough to make a run at this year's state tournament, but the schedule leaves little chance to move up in the weekly rankings.  

A lot of tourney winners last weekend.  Take bow, while I take a breath to get them all correct.

Edina wins the Bloomington Warmup.
Chaska Chan beats GR-G to win Super Chill in Blaine.
Duluth takes home the Proctor-Hermantown tourney with a win over Champ Park/CR. Last but not least, OMG wins the Battle for the Axe title in Brainerd after a convince win over Moorhead.

No. 1 Alexandria continues to stack accolades on an already impressive resume; the Cardinals won the Thief River Falls tournament over the weekend. No. 2 Wayzata (Gold) is outscoring opponents 29-4 so far this season. Stillwater is new to the rankings this week at No. 7: the Ponies are 4-1 to start December and are a potential team to watch upcoming. 

OMG and Edina are both on a roll right now.  Combined they have 29 straight games (Edina 19, OMG 10). They face off in two weeks - should be a great game.

White Bear Lake wins the Battle for the Axe in Brainerd to keep pace in the top-10. Centennial-SLP wins their home tourney in an epic shootout over district 10 Blaine to win the Super Chill. 

River Lakes is the new No. 1 team in U12B: the Stars have won 20 out of 22 games so far. Centennial/Spring Lake Park (Black) won the Super Chill Blaine tournament and went from being unranked to No. 4 this week. Bloomington Jefferson is also new in the rankings this week at No. 10; the Jaguars have won the last 8 out of their last 10 games. 

Anoka-Rogers, Centennial-SLP and Lakeville proved their T10 ranking this past weekend. The Royal Tornadoes won the Bemidji tourney with a few impressive wins. Centennial took top prize in the Moorhead Skate 218, beating  Warroad 4-2. 

Lakeville won the Grand Rapids Star of the North title. They outscored their opponents 39-3...welcome to the top-10 Lakeville!

No. 5 Hastings and No. 6 River Lakes highlights this past week in U10B: the Raiders won 3-1. The top seven at this level all stayed the same. Northern Lakes and Wayzata (Gold) both move up one spot to No. 8 and No. 9 respectively. Minnetonka (Blue) is new in the rankings this week at No. 10: the Skippers have won their last six games.