Heather Rule has a recap of the Class 1A girls’ state hockey championship.

This story was originally published in the 2025 MN State High School Hockey Tournament Guide.

The post Girls Class 1A: ‘Be Legendary’ appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

No, she wasn’t talking about any of her hockey stats as a Minnesota Frost center. She was referring to her connections with the 2025 girls’ high school state hockey tournament champions: Class 2A Hill-Murray and Class 1A Dodge County.

“I did two captain’s practices, and one was with Hill (-Murray) and one was with Dodge County,” Heise said on Sunday afternoon following the Frost’s 2-1 loss to Toronto in St. Paul.

“So, 100% on my part,” Heise quipped.

The Frost returned to Xcel Energy Center on Sunday afternoon for a game against the Toronto Sceptres following a four-game road trip. Crews at the arena had the on-ice and board advertising changed over quickly for the 12:30 p.m. puck drop following the four-day girls’ state hockey tournament. Both Class 1A and Class 2A girls’ championship games were decided in overtime, a first in tourney history.

In Class 1A, top-seeded Dodge County – a co-op of Kasson-Mantorville and Byron in southeastern Minnesota – took a 3-1 lead before three-time defending champ Warroad tied the game with a pair of goals in 21 seconds in the middle of the third period by Vivienne Marcowka. In overtime, it took an official review to determine the puck crossed the goal line to give Dodge County the win. Zoe Heimer scored with 1 minute, 3 seconds left in the first overtime period to secure Dodge County’s first girls’ hockey state championship.

Red Wing’s Taylor Heise’s game-winning shot touches the twine as South St. Paul goalie Sydney Conley helplessly looks on in the Wingers’ 3-2 Class 1A girls’ state third-place game in 2013 at Xcel Energy Center. (MHM Photo / Mackenzie Marinovich)

Heise, a Red Wing graduate from southeastern Minnesota, watched the game online.

“I honestly turned the game off when it was 3-1 with about eight minutes left because I had to go do something,” Heise said. “And I came back and I saw it was 3-3.”

She flipped the game back on and saw the Wildcats earn their title, after getting second place a year ago against the same opponent. The championship was the first for a girls’ hockey program in southern Minnesota.

But Dodge County had to wait a few minutes to celebrate. The teams waited by their benches as officials reviewed the final play. When the official signaled “good goal,” the Wildcats rushed off the bench across the ice toward their ecstatic student section, traditionally tossing their sticks, gloves and helmets along the way.

“I love that for them,” Heise said. “You could see how excited they were. I saw girls crying. I would have cried if I made it there, too. But you could just see the pride in their eyes that they knew they could do it.

“They obviously got stuck in that championship game last year, obviously didn’t make all the way through that they wanted to. But I’m really proud of them. I’m proud of any of the teams that came there. State tournament’s a hard place to play. Playing in a big arena with your whole town watching you, I know the feeling. It’s not easy but really happy for them.”

Close connections to Dodge County hockey
Heise, the 2018 Ms. Hockey winner, played in four state tournaments during her high school career with Red Wing. But she never reached the state championship game. She helped lead the Wingers to three consecutive Class 1A third-place finishes in 2012-14 before finishing as the consolation runner-up in 2018.

Though Heise graduated from Red Wing, she called her connection to Dodge County “southeast Minnesota.” Since basketball was more the sport of choice where she grew up, she remembers playing hockey for Red Wing and going to Dodge County for scrimmages.

She also knows Dodge County coach Jeremy Gunderson and his staff well. Gunderson and her high school coach were friends, so the teams scrimmaged before the regular seasons started. She also gives lessons to Wildcats player Alexa Van Straaten, along with the captain’s practice. During last year’s state tournament, Heise also spoke with the Wildcats before their big game.

“Southern Minnesota pride,” Heise said.

Mercury Bischoff (left), the 2025 Ms. Hockey winner, and the Jori Jones Award recipient, Layla Hemp, watch the Frost game Sunday after receiving their awards at a banquet. (MHM Photo / Heather Rule)

During Sunday’s Frost game, an in-arena announcement and team championship photos shown on the videoboard recognized Dodge County and Hill-Murray. In the Class 2A title game, Hill-Murray upset top-seed and defending champion Edina with a 5-4 win in double overtime.

Next door on Sunday, this year’s Ms. Hockey and Jori Jones Award for goaltender of the year award winners were announced. Mercury Bischoff, a Grand Rapids/Greenway forward who scored 58 goals and 86 points in 28 games this season, won Ms. Hockey, while Minnetonka goaltender Layla Hemp took home the Jori Jones Award. Bischoff is committed to play for Minnesota State next season, while Hemp is off to play for the Minnesota Gophers.

At a TV timeout in the third period, Bischoff and Hemp were acknowledged with an announcement and shown watching the Frost game from a suite. They were wearing their green Minnesota Wild jerseys, traditionally given to the winners of these annual awards. They received a round of applause from the season-high attendance mark of 8,770 fans, and Heise noticed them watching the game, too.

“Even before the game, I thought it would have been a great idea for them to get Frost jerseys,” Heise said. “To be here to see what it could be like for them later in life when they get through college and they get to see what we’re part of. It’s cool.”

The post Heise’s Southern Minnesota Pride appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

On the Ice or the iPod, Dana Rasmussen leads the way for Dodge County.

Leadership doesn’t always come from a rah-rah pre-game speech or getting in someone’s face. Sometimes leadership is much more subtle. It can come from being friends with everyone on the team and keeping everyone loose before the game and then turning it on once the puck drops.

Dodge County left wing Dana Rasmussen is not only one of the top returning goal scorers and point producers in the state, she is also The Wildcats’ resident locker room DJ and magnetic personality according to her coach, Jeremy Gunderson.

“Dana always sits by the music player; she is kind of like the DJ,” Gunderson said. “She is one of those fun kids that are great to have in the locker room.”

The DC Wildcats had a great 2013-14 season, going 22-5 overall, but fell one game short of the state tournament. For the second year in a row they were knocked off by Class AA third-place finisher Lakeville North.

“We were pretty deep on defense and our top two lines were probably as good as any in the state,” said the eighth-year head coach. “We just didn’t have overall depth.”

The Wildcats, a cooperative team formed by Kasson-Mantorville, Blooming Prairie, Byron, Dover-Eyota, Hayfield, Pine Island, Triton, Zumbrota-Mazeppa  high schools, has a handful of players —Rasmussen included—who will be skating on Division I college teams after high school.

“She ended up in the top five in goals and points in the state,” said Gunderson. “The thing that separates Dana from a lot of other kids is a burst of speed that very few hockey players have.”

The senior-to-be doesn’t just rely on her speed. A varsity contributor since seventh grade, the right-handed shooting Rasmussen set the school’s rookie scoring record and has played all three forward positions, but the coaching staff realized the off wing is where her skills are best utilized.

“She is not a big kid, but she will play physical and tough,” Gunderson said. “She takes a pounding, but is very strong. She spends a lot of time in the weight room.”

For such an accomplished offensive player, Rasmussen more than holds her own on defense.

“She is a two way hockey player,” continued Gunderson. “She loves to play defense and block shots. She takes a lot of pride in her defensive zone coverage.”

Being such a solid all-around player makes her a scoring threat even on the penalty kill. She had half a dozen shorthanded goals last season.

“Typically you don’t like to use your best kids on the penalty kill and burn their legs up,” Gunderson said. “We put her on the penalty kill because there is more space. We turn her loose on the forecheck so she creates a lot of havoc. She is on our first power play unit as well.”

Despite her obvious talent, Rasmussen doesn’t act like one of the best players in the state according to Gunderson. “If you ask her to do something she does it, no questions asked,” he said.

While Rasmussen is a prolific goal scorer, the volleyball, hockey and softball player is unselfish and a great teammate on and off the ice.

“She is not trying to tell other kids what to do. She is more likely to ask what music we should listen to so she can dance and laugh,” Gunderson said. “When it is game time I know she is going to give everything, but she is not going to get down on her teammates.

“She wants to have fun and wants to compete, but on the ice she will lay it out on the line.”

Some of her goals this year include winning Ms. Minnesota for hockey and making the U.S. under-18 national team. To reach those goals she will not be playing volleyball this fall to give her more time to focus on hockey, including continuing to play for the AAA Minnesota Ice Cats.

Like most of the DC hockey players, Rasmussen takes her classes seriously and is never a concern off the ice. Her knowledge in school translates to her knowledge on the ice.

Her hockey intelligence is easy to spot. The Ohio State coaches noticed it after just a short time talking with the now-Buckeye commit. She had interest from a number of schools, but in the end wanted to play in the WCHA. After looking at all aspects of being a student athlete she took a second visit to a number of the WCHA schools and Ohio State was where she felt the most comfortable.

“She even looked different when she came back from an Ohio State visit,” said Gunderson, the former Dodge County boy’s assistant coach. “Everything she was looking for Ohio State had to offer.”

For Dodge County and, in two years, Ohio State, Rasmussen has a lot to offer too. Whether it is her unique style of leadership, her goal scoring skills, her all-around game or picking the best pre-game song to dance to, she is the kind of player that can make any team better – on and off the ice.

The post DJ Dana Keeps Wildcats in Tune appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.