It may be a race to second place in the Northwest Suburban Conference after Maple Grove (7-1, 7-1) and Centennial (6-1, 6-1) lost to first-place Blaine this season. However, both teams are gearing up for their respective section tournaments, and their showdown next Monday should be a good primer for each.
The Crimson’s first loss of the season was a 12-4 defeat against the Bengals on May 9, so this week will be an opportunity to prove their mental toughness with four games in seven days, culminating in this matchup.
Junior Emily Herdine has returned from leading the team to the state tournament last season, when she posted 36 goals. She had a pair of goals in the Crimson's loss to Blaine and she'll be the focal point of Maple Grove’s offense that will be going against a defense that has allowed double-digit goals in only its loss against Blaine.
Justine Case anchors a Cougars defense that has kept opponents to seven or fewer goals in all of Centennial’s wins. The sophomore goaltender has posted a 6.00 goals-against average and .544 save percentage to help the Cougars close to within one game of matching their win total last season. If Case continues to play well and the offense rolls behind Hailee Berg (13 goals), Centennial will have a chance to not only defeat Maple Grove but also get to its first state tournament since 2009.