Woodbury’s Alyssa Polaski has been stellar in goal, helping lead the Royals to a 4-0-1 record and into the Top 10 in the LPH Rankings. (LPH FILE PHOTO)

Woodbury creeps into Top 10, but top 9 stays the same

Not much changed in AA hockey over the past week as the top nine teams in Class AA remained in their spot in the rankings.

Hill-Murray continued at the top spot after improving to 6-0-0 on the season with a convincing win over No. 6 Maple Grove (4-1-0). Hannah Rychley scored twice for the Pioneers and Elliana Engelhardt and Taylor Miller also scored in the 4-0 win. Piper Tam stopped all 26 shots she faced to earn the shutout.

Engelhardt and Rychley also scored in their win over Eden Prairie 5-2. Sophie Olson added a pair of goals and Anna Pohl also scored for Hill. The Pioneers have outscored opponents 41-8 in their six wins.

Holy Family maintained the No. 2 spot and improved to 4-0-0 with a 4-3 win over the top team in Class A, Warroad. Maddy Kimbrel’s hat trick led the Fire to the win. She netted the game winner late in the third period as the Fire staved off the Warriors to remain unbeaten. They outshot the Warriors 36-28. Kimbrel, a University of Wisconsin commit, now has seven goals and four assists in the team’s first four games.

No. 3 Centennial/Spring Lake Park claimed a close 3-2 win over No. 15 River Cities Saturday to maintain the third spot in the rankings. Alaina Gnetz, Madeline Wolter and Melanie Riff scored for the Cougars. Tessa Boden and June Semling scored for River Cities (formerly Champlin Park/Coon Rapids).

The rest of the top 9 stayed the same and have a combined record of 36-5-1. The five losses have all come against each other.

Woodbury cracked the top 10 after improving to 4-0-1 after wins over Cretin-Derham Hall and White Bear Lake. Madison Boone leads the Royals with six goals and three assists in the team’s first five game. Goaltender Alyssa Polaski has a .954 save percentage.

Mounds View/Irondale is the lone newcomer to the rankings, debuting at No. 17 after improving to 6-0-1. The Mustangs defeated Stillwater 4-1 and North Wright County 4-2. They also tied Forest Lake 1-1. Junior forward Sarah Johnson has been electric with 14 goals and 9 assists in the team’s seven games. She leads the state in points and is second in goals.