The Minnesota Girls High School season opened play November 6th.  Sectional play downs for both Class A and Class AA State Tourneys begin February 2, 2015.  The maximum number of games a team can play is 25 under current rules.  As of Thanksgiving Day, a quarter of the games have been played by teams and the list of unbeaten teams has shrunk with Breck (A) being upset by Chaska/Chanhassen (AA) in a game played last Tuesday.  Breck is now 6-1 on the season.  Currently there are six unbeaten teams left, Dodge County (4-0-0), Eden Prairie (6-0-0), Maple Grove (5-0-0), New Ulm (7-0-0), Proctor Hermantown (6-0-0), and Austin (5-0-1).  Below, YHH has ranked the top 10 girls high school teams in the state without regard to class (Class AA and Class A).  After the rankings had been made, to our surprise, four of the teams ranked are Class A teams. 

1. Eden Prairie (overall 6-0-0, Section 2AA 0-0-0)-The Eagles opened their season posting impressive wins over Elk River 4-1, Hill-Murray 4-3, and Blake 5-2.  Eden Prairie have a tough December schedule and January gets toughter.  After the Thanksgiving Holiday, the Eagles will be taking a Northwestern Minnesota swing playing games at Thief River Falls and at East Grand Forks December 5th and 6th.  The TRF Prowlers just tied Roseau 1-1 before Thanksgiving; Thief River Falls will not be an easy Eagle win.  The EPer's then play Holy Family Catholic/Waconia, Chaska/Chanhassen, Benilde-St. Margaret's, Hopkins, Wayzata, and Cretin-Derham Hall before hosting a tough Mid-Winter Meltdown Tourney over the Christmas Holidays. with an eight team field that includes Minnetonka, Wayzata, Chaska/Chanhassen, and Roseau.  In January, the Eagles play a rugged Lake Conference home and home schedule and end their season hosting Dodge County. 

2. Blake (overall 6-1-0, Section 5A 1-0-0)-The defending Class A champion Bears have posted solid wins over Chaska/Chanhassen 4-3, Cretin-Derham Hall 5-3, Lakeville North 3-0 in the early season.  Their only loss was to Eden Prairie last week 5-2.  Blake has played a tough schedule and it does not get easier.  They have a December 5th game with unbeaten Proctor/Hermantown at Proctor, play Breck twice in conference play with the first game played December 11th, and play in the South St. Paul tournament (a field that includes Hill-Murray, Roseville, and Hibbing) over January 1st.

3. Breck (overall 6-1-0, Section 5A 0-0-0)-The Mustangs looked unbeatable in the early season with a solid defense and a strong offense, then they lost 4-3 to a tough Chaska/Chanhassen team.  The Mustangs were playing their fourth game in a week.  The loss cost Breck the top spot in this ranking.  Breck plays Edina this weekend at Edina in a game that will match the Hornets Taylor Williamson and Emily Oden against Grace Zumwinkle, Gabby Billing, and Leah Schwartzman.  After Edina, Breck plays #2 Blake at Blake, gets a return shot at Edina in the Edina  tourney (the Mustangs open against a tough Hopkins team), and travel to Dodge County at the end of January.

4. Maple Grove (overall 5-0-0, Section)-Maple Grove opened their season with five straight Northwest Suburban Conference win beating Elk River 2-1 just before the Thanksgiving Holidays.  The Crimson play Andover on Saturday.  Andover lost their top goal tender, senior Maddie Rooney, to the boys varsity this season but the Lady Huskies are still a dangerous team.  The Crimson will play 10 straight conference games before playing outside the conference.  Maple Grove will play Benilde-St. Margaret’s December 11th at the St. Louis Park Rec Center.  The Crimson will be favorites in all those games and should be unbeaten when the Crimson play Edina in the Edina Tourney opener December 29th.

5. Dodge County (overall 4-0-0, Section 1AA 0-0-0)-The Wildcats have lost the ticket to the Xcel the same way the past two seasons, losing in the Section 1AA championship game to Lakeville North.  Things may change this year with North starting slowly (3-2-1).  Dodge County’s barrier to the Xcel may come from Lakeville South, Rochester Century, or Rochester John Marshall/Lourdes.  These three teams are off to good starts this season.  So is Dodge County.  The Wildcats’ girls team has gained respect in the past years and it shows this year.  Tougher competition is willing to travel to Kasson-Manterville Arena to play the Wildcats.  Their first four games include wins over Benilde-St. Magaret’s, Jefferson/Kennedy, and Hopkins; all are tough teams.  They play at Prior Lake Thanksgiving weekend in a four team event with North St. Paul, Holy Angels and host Prior Lake and will be favorites.  In December, Dodge County plays at Orono, at Edina, Buffalo, Rochester Century, at Hill-Murray, and at New Ulm before heading to Warroad for a four team event that includes Section 1AA rivals Eastview and Lakeville North.  Dodge County will be favored in the first part of the Wildcats’ January schedule, but have two tough games to end the season against Breck and Eden Prairie.

6. Edina (overall 4-1-1, Section 2AA 1-0-0)-The Hornets do not shy away from competition and their schedule this year is one of the toughest in the state.  But how the Hornets fare overall maybe determined in their next four games.  Edina plays Breck, Rosemont, Hill-Murray, and Dodge County before opening Lake Conference play against Minnetonka.  They will be favorites in the Rosemount game and slight favorites in the Hill-Murray game.  Sweeping all four will garner a lot of attention.  Edina hockey is a matter of rivals; and Edina has more one rival that wants to smoke the Hornets.  After all the tough games are played through January, the two that will matter the most will be against Eden Prairie.  Those games could be the predictor for the Section 2AA championship game this season, a game that the Hornets lost last year to Eden Prairie. 

7. Minnetonka (overall 6-2-0, Section 6AA 0-0-0)-The Skippers packed eight games into the first two plus weeks of the season and now have time off until things get serious playing their first Lake Conference game against Edina December 13th.  Minnetonka plays one game during that time at Blaine playing Mounds View.  It is a game that the Skippers will be favored to win.  The Skippers best game of the eight played so far this season was a 7-0 win at Warroad.  A big win at Warroad is not easy.  But then they, like Breck, were tagged with a pre-Thanksgiving loss.  The Skippers lost a tough game to Roseville 3-2 and that cost them several spots in this week’s rankings.

8. Proctor/Hermantown (overall 6-0-0, Section 7A 2-0-0)-Proctor/Hermantown Mirage is playing well enough to be considered the strongest team in the Northeastern part of Minnesota.  Last March, the Mirage made their first appearance in the Class A State Tourney at the Xcel.  They lost in the quarterfinals to St. Paul United but went on to win the consolation title.  With eight of last years' top ten scorers on this year's team along with a veteran goalie, the Mirage are on track to returning to the Xcel again.  They have solid wins in their first six games (the Mirage play an independent schedule) including a 3-1 win over Hibbing/Chisholm that will count at Section 7A seeding time.  This weekend, the Mirage will travel to Thief River Falls.  They play the Prowlers Friday and Crookston Saturday.  Over the Christmas Holidays, Proctor/Hermantown will play some tough games at Burnsville.  Four teams, the host Blaze, Tartan, and Minneapolis play that weekend.

9. Roseau (overall 5-1-1, Section 8A 2-0-0)-The Rams came to the cities last weekend and beat Edina 4-3 Friday evening, but before the Rams’ fans could really start to celebrate, they lost to a tough Breck team 4-1 Saturday and then ended up tying Thief River Falls 1-1 Tuesday.  Saturday they head to Warroad to play the rival Warriors on their ice, not an easy game.  After Saturday’s game against Warroad, the Rams are favored to win their next five games (Crookston, Moorhead, North Wright County, East Grand Forks, and Brainerd/Little Falls) before playing the cities teams again in a tough Eden Prairie Tournament over the Christmas Holidays.  The Rams, despite the tie with Thief River Falls, are on track to win the Greater Minnesota Conference Title (have to contend with Warroad, Thief River Falls, and East Grand Forks) and to get the Section 8AA #1 seed at the end of January.

10. Thief River Falls (overall 4-1-1, Section 8A 2-0-0)-The Prowlers sort of sneak into the top 10 teams this week.  Their tie with Roseau is one reason and they played Minnetonka tough in an earlier home loss (4-0); but it is their defense that makes them noteworthy at this time.  They have given up six goals in those six games.  The Prowler defense maybe just enough to them through the Section 8A and a trip to the Xcel this year.  The Prowler defense will be tested.  After hosting Proctor/Hermantown this weekend, the Prowlers host Eden Prairie the following Friday.

Teams to watch: Chaska/Chanhassen, New Ulm (7-0-0), Austin (5-0-1), Warroad (4-2-1), Cretin-Derham Hall (4-1-1), Elk River (4-2-0), Eagan (4-1-1), Hill-Murray (1-2-0), Wayzata (4-1-1), Roseville (3-1-1), Grand Rapids/Greenway (4-1-0), Buffalo (3-1-0), Red Wing (4-1-0), and East Grand Forks (5-1-0)