On Thursday night, Maple Grove sophomore forward Chloe Corbin took advantage of her coach’s encouragement to be more selfish with the puck.

“She’s been close on a lot of accounts,” Maple Grove coach Amber Hegland said of Corbin. 

“We’ve been trying to challenge her to shoot more, as she oftentimes will pass up shooting opportunities,” Hegland continued. 

“Tonight, she took some.”

Corbin netted two goals to help the Crimson knock off Hill-Murray, ranked No. 2 in the latest Class 2A YHH Staff Rankings, extending her team’s unbeaten streak to 14 games and its 10th win in that span. 

Junior forward and Minnesota-Duluth commit Mannon McMahon also scored for No. 5-2A Maple Grove (15-4-4), as the Crimson supplemented a staunch defense with McMahon and Corbin’s timely goals to snap the Pioneers’ seven-game winning streak. 

Hegland said that a concentration on defensive detail was key in the Crimson’s ability to shut down Hill-Murray’s top unit, which includes three Division I commits in Abigail Boreen, Haylee Blinkhorn, and Katie Kaufman. 

“We needed to pay attention to the little things was the message and to make sure we were back-checking and picking up sticks,” Hegland explained. 

“Doing the little things that were going to get us over the hump.”

Boreen, a Minnesota commit, scored the lone goal for the Pioneers (18-4) with 9:41 to play in the third period, the only shot of the 30 pumped on Crimson goaltender Lucy Morgan to sneak past the goal line. 

The Crimson will finish the season with two games against Northwest Suburban Conference opponents in Spring Lake Park and Champlin Park/Coon Rapids, while the Pioneers wrap up their campaign with games against Blaine, Elk River/Zimmerman, and Benilde-St. Margaret’s.     

The win as the Crimson's first regular-season triumph over the Pioneers since the 2014-2015 season.

Both teams entered the game with a power play success percentage of exactly 28.8%.

Hill-Murray's lineup featured five Division I commits in Boreen (Minnesota), Blinkhorn (Boston University), Katie Kaufman (Merrimack), Morgan Helgeson (Clarkson), and Mariah Keopple (Princeton). 

Lucy Morgan, Maple Grove

The junior goaltender was one shot away from earning her 10th shutout of the season and has filled in more than admirably for the Crimson's departed Division I goaltenders Breanna Blesi and Coco Francis. 

Katie Denecke, Maple Grove

The senior offers the Crimson a certain versatility in multiple situations, lining up at both forward and defender. Denecke has totaled 12 goals and 23 points on the season. 

Alli Clark, Hill-Murray

Clark, a junior, provided a spark on the third line for the Pioneers, disrupting the Crimson defense multiple times during the first two periods.