YHH Staff Rankings (GIRLS): December 4

Youth Hockey Hub staff rankings: 

Class AA

1. Minnetonka (6-0)

Minnetonka did everything a No. 1 team is supposed to do last week. First, the Skippers beat a top-five team by three goals in a 4-1 win over previous No. 5-2A Maple Grove. Then, the Skippers outshot Chaska/Chanhassen 59-5 en route to a 13-0 victory.

Three players recorded four points for Minnetonka in the win over the Stormhawks, and Ellie Zakrajsheck led the way with a hat trick and two helpers.

2. Hill-Murray (6-0)

Like a pie cooling in the window or wearing the same pair of sweatpants for 48 hours, moving Hill-Murray was mighty tempting this week after a 2-1, come-from-behind win over previously second-ranked Edina at Braemar Arena on Thursday night.

The Pioneers then followed the win over the Hornets with an emphatic 10-0 thumping of South St. Paul, paced by a five-point performance by Chloe Boreen. Boreen, the senior St. Thomas commit, also scored the game-winner against Edina.

3. Andover (3-1-1)

Andover gutted out a 4-1 win over Holy Family on Tuesday night before pounding Robbinsdale Armstrong/Cooper 12-0 over the weekend.

The win over the Fire featured 11 total penalties called against the teams, including a pair of five-minute majors. In an amusing twist, former Andover 15A goaltender Kayla Swartout stopped 42 of 45 shots in her first appearance against her former teammates.

4. Edina (3-1)

The Hornets dropped two spots after the 2-1 loss to Hill-Murray. Zero cause for alarm in the little town on the west side as Edina prepares to face No. 5 Benilde-St. Margaret’s, Wayzata, and North Wright County this week.

5. Benilde-St. Margaret’s (5-1)

A (very) northern swing resulted in a pair of wins for the Red Knights, as they topped Roseau 3-2 before shellacking Thief River Falls 9-0.

Freshman phenom Talla Hansen leads the Red Knights in scoring after the weekend’s games, with six goals and 12 points through her first six high school games.

The Red Knights can crack the top four if they can pull off the upset win over No. 4-2A Edina this week.

6. Maple Grove (5-1)

The Crimson followed Tuesday’s 4-1 loss to top-ranked Minnetonka with a textbook 3-0 win over Elk River, where Maddie Elfstrand, Maisy Tomlinson, and Bella Shipley scored in the first, second, and third periods. Dani Strom earned her fourth shutout of the season with 20 saves in the win, while Elk River’s Abby Huselid stopped 44 of 47 shots.

7. Moorhead (3-1-1)

10 days after an uncharacteristic 8-3 loss against Benilde-St. Margaret’s, Moorhead took its frustrations out on Sartell/Sauk Rapids and Alexandria last week, beating the Sabres and Cardinals by a combined score of 17-1. Junior Olivia Kortan tallied nine points for the Spuds between the two victories and, through five games, has already equaled nearly 40% of last year’s scoring total.

8. Stillwater (4-2)

Three wins is three wins, and the Ponies have popped up above .500 and will likely stay there the rest of the way. With the exception of the Walser Holiday Tourney and a trio of nonconference games against Eden Prairie, Edina, and Andover, the Ponies are firmly into Suburban East Conference play, in which the Ponies are clearly the most talented team.

9. Northfield (7-0)

Maybe if the Raiders had allowed a goal or scored 14 times last week instead of 15, I could justify dropping them below this week’s surprise No. 10-2A team (don’t look below; let it be a surprise!).

Unfortunately for that mystery team, Northfield blanked Blake 7-0 and then hung 15 on Rochester Century/John Marshall on Thursday and Saturday, respectively. Golden Gopher commit Ayla Puppe racked up six goals and 10 points in the pair of victories.

10. Lakeville North (6-0)

With Champlin Park/Coon Rapids’ loss to Warroad, the Panthers enter the rankings as the line South Suburban Conference squad after a 6-0 win over Eagan and a 4-2 win over Farmington.

Like Stillwater, the Panthers are about to enter conference-only play, with a Dec. 21 date with No. 4-2A Edina, the lone nonconference, non-tournament contest on the schedule.

Class A

1. Orono (6-1)

Welcome back, Spartans. Your lease on the No. 1 spot in Class A is still valid, and you’re still eligible to get your security deposit back because you were only gone a short time.

Orono pumped 40 shots on net in last week’s win over previously top-ranked Holy Angels, helping result in a 4-1 victory. The Spartans will take on No. 9-2A Northfield on Tuesday and Chaska/Chanhassen on Saturday.

2. Warroad (5-1)

The Warriors picked up a 5-2 win over Bemidji last Tuesday and a 4-3 win over former No. 10-2A Champlin Park/Coon Rapids. Against the Bluebirds, the Warriors initially went down 3-0 before storming back with four tallies for the eventual win. Madilyn Skogman and Emmie Hardwick each recorded three points in the win.

3. Holy Angels (5-1-1)

Because high school hockey isn’t nuts, there aren’t injury reports for teams, which can make slotting teams with injuries difficult. For instance, Holy Angels. The Stars are missing a handful of players, so a 4-1 loss against Orono should be taken with an appropriately sized grain of salt.

The Stars are back at it next Saturday against New Prague, their seventh of eight home games to start the season.

4. Proctor/Hermantown (3-3-1)

Proctor/Hermantown is back in the win column after three winless contests, falling 4-2 against Edina, 2-1 against Orono, and tying Holy Angels last Tuesday before edging Gentry Academy 4-3 last Saturday. The gauntlet continues for the Mirage this week, hosting Grand Rapids/Greenway and Andover this Thursday and Friday.

Six of the Mirage’s seven games this season have been decided by two goals or fewer.

5. Duluth Marshall (7-1)

The Hilltoppers haven’t exactly faced a Murderers’ Row of opponents so far. There, that’s out in the open.

However, (pretty much) all the ‘Toppers have done this year is win, a feat accomplished three times last week with back-to-back shutouts over North Shore and Pine City Area, followed by a 2-1 win over Brainerd/Little Falls.

With 15 goals and 11 assists so far, St. Thomas commit Ilsa Lindaman is currently tied for second among all Minnesota skaters in scoring.

6. Dodge County (6-1)

A 3-2 overtime loss against North Wright County interrupted a six-game winning streak for the Wildcats and a 7-3 win over previously No. 9-1A South St. Paul should not be overlooked.

Six players have now eclipsed the double-digit mark for scoring, and goaltender Ida Huber has posted a goals-against-average of 0.99 and a save percentage of .905 to go along with four shutouts.

7. River Lakes (6-0-1)

The Pride of Paynesville is off to an undefeated start this season and climb to No. 7-1A this week, having won four straight games since a 0-0 tie with Fergus Falls earlier in the year.

Sophia Hess and Abby Storms have combined for 33 points through seven games thus far for the Stars, and goaltender Kaydence Roeske (she’s around for another year after this, folks) has a GAA of 0.81, .970 save percentage and three blank sheets.

8. Breck (7-1)

A 3-2 upset win over fifth-ranked Simley put the Mustangs at the forefront of the teams waiting to get into Club Rankings.

Despite a 3-2 loss to Northern Tier on Saturday, Breck is returning to the top-ish end of Class A programs. A true test awaits on Dec. 15, when No. 10-1A Mound Westonka/Southwest Christian comes to the Anderson Ice Arena.

9. Simley (3-3)

Simley is currently 3-3 while averaging 3.33 goals-per-game. What were the Spartans’ results against opponents during the second period this season? 3-3.

Cue the X-Files theme music.

In all seriousness, the Spartans remain in the top 10 thanks largely to its earlier win over No. 1-1A Orono, though losing to a previously unranked Breck team does drop the Spartans from fifth to ninth.

Delano/Rockford and St. Paul/Two Rivers are on deck for this week.

10. Mound Westonka/Southwest Christian (3-3-1)

Nobody could accuse the White Hawks of losing to teams beneath their station, an attribute when it comes to ranking Class 1A teams, where the water gets murky after the first four programs. This season’s losses have come against No. 9-2A Northfield, No. 1-1A Orono, and No. 3-1A Holy Angels.

Now, the White Hawks will take on Wayzata, No. 2-1A Warroad, and Morris/Benson in the span of four days this week.

15A Girls
(Rank-Team-District-Last Week)

1. Alexandria 15 LWWWW
2. Minnetonka (Black) 6 WT
3. Edina Green 6 WWWW
4. Rochester 9 WWWWL
5. Woodbury Black 8 T
6. Stillwater Red 2 LWWL
7. Eden Prairie 6 TLW
8. Wayzata Blue 3 LWWL
9. Duluth 11 TL
10. Andover 9 TWWW

Alexandria remains number one despite a loss to Rochester in the Centennial Super Chill. They avenged the pool play loss Sunday with a 4-1 win over the Mustangs. Edina Green cruised to a Winter Warmup championship in Bloomington Sunday. The Green Machine rolled their opponents 20-4 in four games.

15B Girls
(Rank-Team-District-Last Week)

1. Wayzata Gold 3 WT
2. North Shore 11 WWWW
3. Grand Rapids/Greenway 12 DNP
4. Central MN Riverblades 5 WL
5. Osseo-Maple Grove Black 3 WLWL
6. Owatonna 9 WWWW
7. Armstrong Cooper 3 WL
8. Rosemount 8 LWL
9. Alexandria 15 WLLL
10. Bemidji 16 LW

North Shore rockets to the No. 2 slot this week thanks to a second-place finish at the Centennial Super Chill, which included wins over Osseo-Maple Grove Black, Alexandria, and Rosemount. Those teams were ranked No. 4, No. 5, and No. 6 in last week’s Staff Rankings.

Owatonna moves up after going 4-0 and winning the Bloomington Winter Warm Up, highlighted by Alexis Noble’s six goals and 12 points. Noble’s performance led the tournament in scoring.

The Central MN Riverblades drop two slots after falling to previously unranked Bemidji, which enters the rankings at No. 10 after beating the previous No. 2 Riverblades.

12A Girls
(Rank-Team-District-Last Week)

1. Minnetonka 6 W
2. Centennial/Spring Lake Park 10 WWTWW
3. Chaska/Chanhassen 6 WWWWL
4. Edina 6 WWL
5. Grand Rapids-Greenway 12 WWW
6. Woodbury 8 WW
7. Warroad 16 WW
8. Lakeville 8 WWWW
9. East Grand Forks 16 TWWL
10. Orono-Westonka 3 WWWWW

Three tourney winners over the weekend all lay claim on a spot in the top-10.

Orono-Westonka wins the the Bloomington tournament with four quality wins. Lakeville wins up north beating East Grand Forks in the finals. The biggest tourney win of the week goes to Centennial who shuts out Chaska/Chan 4-0 Sunday to win their home tourney the Super Chill.

Tonka remains number one, the Skippers knocked off Edina for the second time in a week.

12B Girls
(Rank-Team-District-Last Week)

1. Eagan (Blue) 8 WW
2. Cannon River 9 WW
3. Minnetonka (Blue) 6 WW
4. Elk River 10 W
5. Woodbury (Gold) 8 WL
6. Moorhead (Black) 15 WW
7. Bemidji 16 DNP
8. Osseo/Maple Grove (White) 3 WWWL
9. Mounds View/Irondale (Gold) 2 W
10. Delano 3 LWWW

The top three all take care of business this week as each goes 2-0 on the week respectively.

Elk River is the biggest mover this week, leaping from No. 9 to No. 4 in this week’s rankings. The Elks knocked off last week’s No. 5 Woodbury (Gold) 2-1 this Sunday.

Mounds View/Irondale (Gold) is one of the two new teams in the rankings this week. The Mavericks are on a heater currently with seven wins in a row and are the only team to beat Marshall on the young season.

Delano rounds the week 2 rankings out as the No. 10 team. The Tigers notched a key win over division foe OMG (White) in overtime this past week.

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