Warriors jump to No. 3 in Class A Boys Rankings
Warroad continued their winning ways and jumped two spots in the Class A Boys Rankings with wins over No. 7 Mahtomedi 4-2 and No. 14 Orono 7-1. The victories give them six wins in a row as they jumped to No. 3 in the rankings. They will search for their seventh straight on Tuesday against Thief River Falls before they take a 13-day break over Christmas.
Finn Hanson stopped 28 shots for the Warriors in their win over Mahtomedi, who outshot Warroad 30-22. Freshman Ayven Hontvet scored the game winner in the second period to break a 2-2 tie and senior Broden Hontvet scored an empty-netter to seal the win. 
The Warriors had a little bit of an easier time finding the net against Orono, winning handily 7-1 behind a hat trick from Ryan Shaugabay.
Section 2A is shaking up to be a gauntlet with four teams in the Top 12 in this week’s LPH Class A Boys Rankings, presented by Tradition Companies.
No. 5 Delano, No. 7 Blake, No. 11 Breck and No. 12 Orono are all state-caliber teams, but only one will get through what has become as tough a section as there is in high school hockey.
Delano had a hard-fought loss to No. 19AA Chanhassen last Wednesday, but rebounded with a hard-fought win over No. 12A Monticello on Friday. Both games went into overtime. Senior captain Daniel Halonen scored the game-winner, his second goal of the game, to lift the Tigers to the OT win. He leads Delano is scoring with 7G and 6A in 7 games.
The Tigers dropped to a spot to No. 5 in the rankings, followed by their Section 2A foe Blake, who fell to No. 7 after going 2-1 last week. Their one loss came at the hands of St. Thomas Academy, who jumped to No. 3 in Class AA. But the Bears beat No. 13A St. Louis Park 7-1 and Robbinsdale Armstrong/Cooper 9-6.
Landon Bell had a goal and three assists and Charlie Moore and Joe Erickson each scored twice to lead the Bears past SLP. In their win over Robbinsdale, Bell had four goals and Moore four assists to lead the Bears. Erickson leads the team with 10 goals and 13 assists and Bell has 11 goals and nine assists.
No. 11 Orono had a good week, jumping three spots and knocking on the door of the Top 10 after a 4-3 win over section rival Breck. Jackson Knight scored the game winner near the end of overtime, his second goal of the game and 11th of the season. The Spartans also faced No. 5A Warroad and lost 7-1 and No. 10A East Grand Forks, where they skated to a 5-5 tie. Knight had another pair of goals, but EGF’s Tucker Lovejoy netted a hat trick. Orono goalie Max Lewin stopped 44 shots to help keep the Spartans in the game.
Hermantown maintained the top spot in the Class A Boys Hockey Rankings after taking on three Class AA opponents last week, winning two and tying one.
They started out the week against No. 20AA Duluth Marshall and skated to a 5-5 tie with their crosstown opponents. Duluth Marshall has emerged as a Top 20 team in Class AA and trailed the Hawks 5-2 midway through the third period when they rattled off three goals. The teams skated to a tie after a scoreless overtime, but fans were treated to a high-octane thriller as 77 shots on goal were recorded with a slight edge to the hilltoppers 44-43. Hermantown’s Bryce Francisco and Duluth’s Wyatt Brown booth stood tall in goal.
The Hawks followed up the tie with a solid 8-6 win over Centennial and then a resounding 7-3 win over #13AA Rosemount.
The Hawks continue to get balanced scoring as seven different players scored against Centennial and five different players lit the lamp against Rosemount. They currently have nine scorers with multiple goals this season.
Let’s Play Hockey Class A Boys Rankings
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OTHER TEAMS RECEIVING VOTE: SAUK RAPIDS-RICE, INTERNATIONAL FALLS, DETROIT LAKES, DODGE COUNTY, PROVIDENCE ACADEMY, LITCHFIELD/DASSEL-COKATO, MANKATO WEST, OSUTH ST. PAUL, MINNEAPOLIS