The girls 15A State Tournament took place March 15th to the 17th in Fairmont, Minnesota. Eight teams made the journey for their chance at the Championship Trophy. Neutral Zone was there in attendance and was able to cover the games firsthand. There were a number of impressive games and impressive players. The following were some of the standouts throughout the course of the tournament.
A+
Allie Defauw #39 (East Coast Valkyries U16, F) : Defauw gets after it immediately. She is a good skater who motors around the ice with quick feet. She is offensive minded and has great IQ and knowledge of the game. She pressures and forechecks hard and can cause the other team to react poorly or turn the puck over. She has great hands and control. She plays in every situation and gets all over the ice. She is constantly involved in the play and makes a difference when she is on the ice.
Lilly Horton #15 (Edina Green, D) : Horton is a very smart and wise player. Her head is on a swivel and she knows what she’s going to do as soon as the puck gets to her stick. She has great size and strength. She walks into shots and rips it hard. She has a great release, and she can find a way to get the puck through traffic. Horton is talented and handles being relied upon well. She produces and knows when to step up for her team.
Kennedy Hochbaum #88 (Minnesota Walleye, F) : Hochbaum is a speedy player with quick skating moves. She has great hands and good puck control. She had numerous chances throughout the weekend and made good things happen offensively. Hochbaum can outsmart her opponent with shifty unpredictable quick reactions and instincts. She constantly made things happen and can produce at a strong level.
Jia Morgan #18 (Edina High School, F, 2028) : Morgan finds a way to get things done. She is smart and offensively minded. She has great edge work, stays on it and has speed and know- how. She constantly creates chances and gets all over the puck as a top forward. Morgan follows up the play, supports it and capitalizes on her opportunities.
A
Brooke Kapeller #2 (Minnetonka U15A, D) : Kapeller is strong on pucks and uses her body. She does great on special teams and finds the middle of the ice to release the puck on net. She creates chances from the blue line and reacts right away to stay engaged. She is smart and uses her hockey knowledge to create chances. Defensively she is sound around the danger areas and protects the net well.
Soren Peacock #30 (Edina Green, G) : Peacock shows up to play and looks forward to the challenge. She can shut the opponent down and come up in big moments. She stays calm and collected, not losing her cool. She was cold a number of times throughout the tournament, not seeing a lot of action and still stayed warm and ready to go. Peacock makes the stops when needed using her agility and quick reactions.
Mae Fitzgerald #7 (Edina Green, F) : Fitzgerald is quick and reacts fast the second the puck drops on the ice. She is intelligent, skilled and determined. She uses her body and gets involved in the play. She backs up her teammates and supports the puck. Fitzgerald is smart with great net front presence. She is smooth on her skates and can be unpredictable with and without the puck.
Madrid Satterstrom #12 (Rochester U15A, F) : Satterstrom can charge ahead and make good things happen in the offensive zone. She does a great job supporting the puck and becoming an open outlet. She comes out ready to go and has great energy. She plays to win and has speed and knowledge. A crafty player with unpredictable moves that keep defenders on their toes.
Taylor Kurtz #16 (Rochester U15A, F) : Kurtz has quick edges and moves the puck around quickly. She can take it into the offensive zone and right to the net. She has good stick work and reads the play in front of her. She puts herself in really good positions by reading and reacting. She is capable of producing and creating scoring opportunities. She gets her own rebounds and capitalizes on her chances.
Kaelyn Holmen #11 (Stillwater Red 15U A, F) : Holmen is a smart, quick and shifty player who can create and generate offensively. She is a speedy player with good hockey knowledge. She has great moves and can shoot the puck in motion. She can produce and finds a way to buy space and time. She is a great asset for her team and plays to win.
Kendall Ringat #10 (North Wright County U15, F) : Ringat can be unpredictable and shifty. She has speed in open ice and is quick in tight spaces. She makes things happen and can get to the net with speed. Her ability to generate offense allows her and her team the chance to put pucks in the net. She has good energy and can be a dangerous player with the puck or behind the play being off the puck.
Sydney Petersen #28 (North Wright County, F, 2022) : Petersen comes ready to play. She came out in the championship game with her head high focused. She stopped 36 out of 37 shots in the first two games alone. She is quick, agile and mobile in her crease. She can also make some incredible saves from any angle. She doesn’t give up and she stays calm in her crease. Petersen will be a great asset for the Skippers moving forward.
Brecklyn Ellingson #10 (River City Selects) : Ellingson is a gritty player. She is quick and uses her body. She doesn’t back down from the physical side and can cause turnovers. She battles and creates chances for her team with strong puck possession. She had a beautiful goal in the opening game against Stillwater. She is a worker all around the ice making her a team player. Ellingson keeps her head up and puts herself in good positions to succeed.
A-
Jaden Ruzzi #1 (Minnesota Moose, G) : Ruzzi has quick reactions and a good glove hand. She can make the tough stops and has nice lateral mobility. She is agile and finds a way to see the puck through traffic. She doesn’t get overly flustered and remains calm between the pipes. Ruzzi came ready to play and did her best to keep her team in the tournament.
Charlotte Heckendorf #4 (North Wright County U15, D) : Heckendorf can wheel around the ice and has good hand eye coordination. She finds a way to hit her target passing and shooting wise. She is a playmaker and does what she can to get pucks in a scoring position. She is unselfish and gets control of the loose pucks while holding the zone. She does not give the puck away and can initiate the offensive side of the game.
Emily Doherty #6 (Alexandria Area High School) : Doherty does a really nice job on the draw and puts the puck where she wants it. She uses her body and gains control of it. She gets involved and is always around the play. She can wheel and fire the puck at the same time. She keeps her head on a swivel and finds her outlets to utilize her teammates.
Katherine McGarvey #13 (F) : McGarvey creates and brings good energy to her team. She is smart with the puck and makes smart plays. She will set it up from behind the goalie’s net and play an unselfish game. She has nice hockey IQ and brings her A game in the best moments. She can produce and does not quit on any play.
Teagan Olson #10 (Minnesota Green Giants, F) : Olson does a nice job on the draw. She gets her body into it and supports the puck nicely. She finds a way to get open for the puck. Olson gets involved on the ice to make an impact and is all over the puck. She forechecks, pressures, and causes turnovers on the opposing defense. She has an active stick and had some great looks throughout the tourney.
Ellie Dwinnell #35 (G) : Dwinnell showed up in the big moments of their first game against Rochester. She makes quick saves and stays calm under pressure. She was challenged and made some fast glove saves. She clears the puck and deflects it away from the net and out of trouble. She is mobile and quick to react to pucks as well.
Maya Godfrey #9 (Minnetonka U15A) : Godfrey has some good moves and finds a way to work her way in and out of traffic. She finds the middle of the ice and gets herself to the net. She gets shots on goal and follows up the play. Godfrey had an important goal to tie the game against Edina for the Championship. She plays hard and keeps her head on a swivel at all times.
Kaylan Kapsen #12 (Edina Green, D) : Kapsen shows up to play each game we saw her. She is consistent and gritty. She put her team up against Minnetonka with a beautiful goal, which would eventually lead to her team winning the Championship trophy. She has great instincts and nice speed on and off the puck. She capitalizes on mistakes and pressures hard. She can be first to the puck and has some nice moves to maneuver around the ice. Kapsen had a nice tournament and stuck to her game.
B+
Evie Doebbert #4 () : Doebertt keeps her head up and her body faced towards the play. She makes smart decisions and is quick to react to plays in front of her. She has hockey IQ and acts on her instincts. She has speed and moves that propel her to speed by the opposition. She can wheel and she can shoot in motion. Doebertt is a nice asset and a team player.
Maya Dutton #21 (Alexandria Area High School, F) : Dutton has a quick release and finds the open ice to buy space and time. She has good speed and drives it hard to the net. Good net front presence she keeps her stick on the ice and finds the puck to create good scoring chances. She gets her share of chances and is capable of producing. She can put the puck in the net naturally as well.
Nola Dalum #12 (Minnesota Fighting Saints, 2028) : Dalum has great speed and a great offensive mind. She gets after it and reacts to pucks quickly. She can make the most out of her opportunities and takes advantage of the other teams’ mistakes. When she gets control of the puck she makes positive things happen. She is a nice playmaker and gets her teammates involved in the play.
Alexis Wagner #12 (Andover High School, F) : Wagner has good instincts and reactions. She gets after it right away and pressures hard. She angles and does a nice job on the forecheck. She generates offense and creates chances in front of the net. Wagner can make good things happen when she’s on the ice making herself an impact every shift.
Audrey Simonet #13 (Stillwater Red 15U A, F) : Simonet is a speedy go-getter who can cause problems for the opposition. She plays with drive and determination and can win foot races to the puck. She is good in small ice areas and finds a way to come out with control of it. She gets open and loves to be around the puck.
Emerson Fritz #10 (Edina High School, F, 2027) : Fritz has a good head on her shoulders. A fighter who gets involved in the play and battles for control. She supports the puck and opens up for the pass. She takes the body if she has to get the opponent off the puck and she forechecks hard. Fritz gets her chances and goes hard to the net. She can get control of the rebound and makes the most out of her chances.
B
Molly Clough #20 (Andover High School, D) : Clough is a smart player. She is physical and uses her strength. She takes the body and ties up players to really weigh them down. She keeps the forwards to the outside lane and away from the net. She knows when to get involved in the play and when to stay back. Clough is capable of producing and can step up in big ways. She wasn’t as aggressive as in the past but when she does she shows up in a big way.
Riley Carroll #6 (Stillwater Red 15U A) : Carroll does a great job of knowing when to get involved in the offensive play and when to stay on the blue. She has good hockey instincts and does a nice job holding the zone. She keeps nice gap control and forces the opposition to the outside lane. She defends well and plays a consistent game. Carroll finds the lane to shoot and takes it. She also gets pucks to the net and wants to create rebounds which result in strong chances.
Addison Vaszily #22 (Rochester U15A, D) : Vaszily can be a big presence with her physicality and strength. She stands tall and sturdy on the blueline. She keeps pucks in the offensive zone and knows when to jump into the play and when to stay back to hold the line. She defends well and clears pucks from in front of her goalie. She protects the crease and makes sure her goalie can see the first shot.
Kamrin Turnquist #25 (East Coast Valkyries U16, F) : Turnquist pressures and causes havoc. She plays hard and can steal pucks away from the opposition. She reads and reacts great and was able to steal the puck away from the opposition in game one to bring it in for a goal. Turnquist is a nice playmaker and a good teammate.