Minnetonka regains top spot,

undefeated Northfield cracks Top 5

The game of musical chairs continued last week as Minnetonka reclaimed the top spot in Class AA while top-ranked Hill-Murray fell to No. 3  after a 6-2 loss to last week’s No. 3 Andover, who jumped to No. 2.

The Skippers defeated Wayzata this past week in their first game since losing to Edina on Jan. 6. Edina remained at No. 4 this week after a loss to Lakeville South, but had wins over No. 10 Stillwater and Buffalo. Stillwater dropped to No. 13, but will get Josie St. Martin back this week after she led Team USA in scoring at the U18 World Championships.

The Skippers will also get three of their top players back when Kendra Distad, Lauren Goldsworthy and Layla Hemp return from the U18 World Championships.

Northfield still hasn’t lost and leaped into the top five with a win over No. 5 Benilde-St. Margaret’s who fell to No. 6 this week. Northfield is now 18-0-0 and finally were able to flex their muscles against a top-5 team.

Moorhead keeps winning and improved top 16-2-1 and Lakeville North leads Section 3AA with a 15-2-1 record which includes a win over Hill-Murray. Centennial/Spring Lake Park is on an 11-game winning streak where they have allowed just eight goals in those 11 games and have shut out their opponent their past four games. Senior goaltender Kaitlin Groess has a 1.04 goals against average and a .959 save percentage.

Lakeville South has been equally impressive as they are coming off a win over Edina and improved to 16-1-3. Their senior goaltender Claire Bronson has a 0.86 goals against average and a .963 save percentage. The Cougars have won 11 straight and their last loss came way back on Nov. 21 to Farmington. They have allowed more than two goals just once all season.

Defense and goaltending seems to be the hallmark of Class AA Girls Hockey this season. Only three teams — Minnetonka, Hill-Murray and Northfield  — have averaged more than five goals per game. Meanwhile, 13 teams are allowing less than two goals per game and Lakeville South is the only team allowing less than a goal a game.

So what does it all mean?

It means the Class AA field, formerly dominated by the likes of Edina and Andover, is showing that any team can win on any given night.

This should make for an interesting next couple weeks as the regular season closes down and teams jockey for section seeding.

Speaking of seeding (seating), the music will keep playing this week with several big match ups, meaning next week’s seating (seeding) chart could very well give us a another mix up in the top five, top 10 and beyond.

LPH Rankings – Class AA Girls Jan. 16, 2024

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Other Teams Receiving Votes:

Cretin-Derham Hall, North Wright County, Blaine, Bemidji, Eastview, Forest Lake, Northern Tier, Roseau.