5-1 win over Hill-Murray puts them into the Top 3

St. Thomas Academy’s 5-1 win over Hill-Murray last week put them back into the Top 3 and back into the conversation of teams who could be mentioned in the same sentence as top-ranked and defending champion Moorhead.

While Moorhead has maintained a tic above the rest of the field in Class AA, only Minnetonka and now St. Thomas Academy have proven they are deep and talented enough to challenge the defending Champions. Minnetonka will get a chance to dethrone the Spuds this Saturday when they travel up I-94 to visit the Spuds. St. Thomas will get the Spuds back-to-back Jan. 3 and Jan. 10, the first at the Prior Lake Holiday Tournament and the latter at St. Thomas Arena.

The Cadets improved to 7-1-0 and led 5-0 until a late Hill-Murray goal was the lone blemish on a great night for STA goalie Owen Ryan, who made 29 saves.

The Cadets keep getting production from senior Cole Braunshausen who is the top goal scorer in Class AA hockey with 13 tallies. He opened the scoring and finished with a goal and two assists. Will Mikan added three assists and freshman Maverick McKinnon continued to prove he is one of the top underclassmen in the state with another goal, his eighth in eight games.

The Pioneers continue to have trouble putting the biscuit in the basket. Ranked No. 2 coming into the season and considered the team to challenge Moorhead for the top ranking, they have scored two goals or less in four of their six games. They have benefitted from the great play of senior netminder Grayson Hanggi, but will need to get the offense going to be a contender. They dropped to No. 6 this week.

Minnetonka stayed pace last week and maintained the No. 2 spot with strong wins over No. 18AA Prior Lake 6-1 and No. 15AA Wayzata 3-2.

Moorhead outscored Alexandria and Grand Rapids 15-2 to stay unbeaten at 7-0-0 and stay at No. 1.

Edina beat section foe and No. 16AA Benilde-St. Margaret’s 4-2 to jump a spot to No. 4.

Stillwater continues to play well and jumped to No. 5 after a 6-3 win over No. 12AA Blaine and improving to 7-1-0.

Shakopee jumped a spot after wins over Holy Family and Lakeville South. Rogers has four losses, but comes in at No. 8, jumping two spots after beating Maple Grove 5-1. The Crimson fall to No. 10 and Holy Angels stayed at No. 9 to round out the Top 10.

Eden Prairie gained four spots from 17 to 13, and Elk River/Zimmerman debuts in the Top 20 at No. 19 with a 3-0-0 record. White Bear Lake dropped the most, from 11 to 20.

Plenty of top 20 match ups this week, none bigger than #2AA Minnetonka at #1AA Moorhead on Saturday.

Some match ups to look forward to:

Tuesday

#6A Mahtomedi at #3AA St. Thomas Academy

#17AA Chanhassen at #12AA Blaine

Thursday

#19AA Elk River/Zimmerman at #13AA Eden Prairie

#20AA White Bear Lake at #15AA Wayzata

#19AA Chanhassen at #2AA Minnetonka

Friday

#9AA Holy Angels at #16AA Benilde-St. Margaret’s

#1A Hermantown at #10AA Maple Grove

#19AA Elk River/Zimmerman at #4AA Edina

Saturday

#6AA Stillwater at #7AA Shakopee

#3AA St. Thomas Academy at #10AA Maple Grove

#2AA Minnetonka at #1AA Moorhead

#5AA Hill-Murray at #20AA White Bear Lake

#13AA Eden Prairie at #4AA Eden Prairie

Let’s Play Hockey Class AA Boys Rankings

Presented by Tradtition Companies

OTHER TEAMS RECEIVING VOTES: PRIOR LAKE, ANDOVER, ROCK RIDGE, LAKEVILLE SOUTH, FARMINGTON, HOLY FAMILY, CHAMPLIN PARK, TOTINO-GRACE, GRAND RAPIDS, BEMIDJI, ST. MICHAEL-ALBERTVILLE.