Warroad’s win over Class AA perennial power lifts them back to No. 1

by Bryan Zollman, Let’s Play Hockey

Warroad is back on top in Class A after a 3-0 win over perennial AA power Andover last Saturday. The Warriors were coming off a hard-fought 2-0 loss to No. 7AA Bemidji last Tuesday and rebounded with a solid win, scoring three second-period goals and getting production from three different goal scorers. Jaylie French, Linnea Harren and Vivienne Marcowka scored for the Warriors and Payton Rolli stopped all 24 shots to earn the shutout.

The win improved the Warriros to 4-2-0 on the season. Their two losses are to No. 7AA Bemidji and No. 2 AA Holy Family. They will have a big game this Saturday against No. 3A Breck in Warroad.

Dodge County falls to No. 2 after a big win over No. 4A Blake last Tuesday and an 8-1 loss to No. 3AA Minnetonka Saturday. In their win over Blake, they got goals from Kylie Meyer, Taryn Wernecke and Maysie Koch, outshooting the Bears 34-11. Ella Bond scored the lone goal for Blake. But the Wildcats ran into a juggernaut Saturday in Minnetonka and will try and get back on the winning track this week when they battle No. 7A Orono on Saturday in Hastings.

There’s a good chance the top two to three spots in the Class A rankings could be interchangeable throughout the season.

Breck remained undefeated and locked in at No. 3 with a 4-0 win over Rosemount. Freshman goalie Clara Milinkovich earned her second shutout of the season stopping 24 shots and improving her save percentage to .967. The Mustangs have allowed just four goals all season. They take on Warroad this Saturday in Warroad.

Blake comes in at No. 4 for the second straight week despite their loss to Dodge County. The Bears responded with a convincing 4-0 win over No. 12AA Farmington behind a 37-save effort from Janie McGawn. The Bears got goals from Bond, Bryn Heinmiller, Ella Anderson and Callie Arthur to improve to 5-2-0 on the season.

Marshall jumps to No. 5 this week after a 3-0 win over No. 15A Hutchinson Saturday. Brookly Mauch continued her torrid scoring pace with her 19^th and 20^th goals which leads the state.

Proctor/Hermantown and Orono each jumped a spot. The Mirage fell to No. 11AA Andover 4-1, but had a 6-0 win over Rock Ridge. The Mirage are now 4-3 and their three losses have  come to Andover, Edina and Warroad. They also defeated Orono 3-1 on Nov. 21.

Orono, meanwhile, had a solid 3-2 win over No. 19AA Northfield. Sydney Christian scored twice for the Spartans and Lauren Albrecht also scored. It was Christian’s first two goals of the season. She is just an eighth grader.

Albert Lea fell from No. 5 to No. 8 after a pair of losses to fall to 5-2-0 on the season. They dropped a close 5-4 battle to No. 19AA Northfield in overtime and then fell to Gentry Academy 4-1.

Westonka/Southwest Christian and Mankato East flip-flopped this week at No. 9 and No. 10. Westonka outscored their opponents 16-3 in a pair of wins last week. Lizzy Callahan continued her strong scoring pace with three goals and seven assists in the two games. The senior now has eight goals and nine assists in the team’s five games. Bre Koehler had four goals and two assists in the wins and Georgia Harmer had three goals and five assists.

Mankato East improved to 4-0-1 with a win over South St. Paul behind a 4-goal effort by junior Grace Campbell.

Let’s Play Hockey Rankings

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Other Teams receiving Votes: East Grand Forks, Delano/Rockford, Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato, Fairmont, Simley, Thief River Falls.

Top 20 Matchups this week:

Tuesday

#1A Warroad at Crookston

#5A Marshall at Fairmont

#9A Westonka/SW Christian at #15 Academy of Holy Angels

New Prague at #10A Mankato East

#11A Chisago Lakes at Hibbing/Chisholm

#12A St. Cloud at #18A Fergus Falls

New Ulm at #14A Minnesota River

#16A Minneapolis at Bloomington Jefferson

#19A North Shore at Cloquet/Esko/Carlton

Thursday

#4A Blake at #9A Westonka/SW Christian

#17A Luverne at #5A Marshall

#10AA Woodbury at #7A Orono

#8A Albert Lea at Rochester Mayo

Austin at #10A Mankato East

Princeton/Big Lake/Becker at #11A Chisago Lakes

#13A Hutchinson at Willmar

#15A Academy of Holy Angels at New Prague

Friday

Gentry Academy at #1 Warroad

#3A Breck at #18A Roseau

Pine City Area at #19A Noth Shore

Saturday

#3A Breck at #1A Warroad

#2A Dodge County at #7 Orono

#5A Marshall at South Central

#6A Proctor/Hermantown at Blaine

#10A Mankato East at Osseo/Park Center

#14A Minnesota River at Willmar

#16A Minneapolis at Pine City Area

#20A River Lakes at Cloquet/Esko/Carlton