The Shakopee girls hockey team closed out 2022 winning five of its last six games.
After a slow start — 2-5 after their first seven games — the Sabers reeled off five straight wins before falling 6-1 to No. 6-ranked Hill-Murray in the title game of the Mid-Winter Meltdown Dec. 29 at the Eden Prairie Community Center.
Shakopee (7-6 overall, 5-3 in the South Suburban Conference) won 3-1 over Cretin-Derham Hall in the quarterfinals Dec. 27 and followed with a 4-0 victory over the host Eagles in the semifinals the next day.
First-year Shakopee coach Jaime Grossman was the coach at Eden Prairie last season, spending 11 season with the Eagles and leading the program to five Section 2AA titles and the 2016 state championship.
Shakopee is 2-1 against Section 2AA teams so far this season, beating Prior Lake 3-2 and falling 5-1 to No. 7 Holy Family.
Prior Lake was supposed to play at home Dec. 22 against No. 3 Minnetonka, but the game was postponed due to wintry weather. The Skippers are the defending Section 2AA champions and were the state runner-up last season.
In the win over Eden Prairie, senior Molly Morrow stopped 26 shots to earn the shutout for the Sabers, her first of the season.
Shakopee led 2-0 after two periods and tacked on two more goals in the final frame to put Eden Prairie away. Junior Allison Parker and sophomore Hannah Grabianowski each scored two goals apiece to lead the way.
Junior Breklyn Skattum and senior Rilee Nash each had an assist for the Sabers.
Against Cretin-Derham Hall, junior Ollie Sinnen got the start in goal for Shakopee and finished with 23 saves. Senior Annika Willmert and Grabianowski each scored third-period goals.
Senior Madelyn Docteur scored in the first period for the Sabers. Senior Emma Heyer had a pair of assists, while Grabianowski, Nash and sophomores Nadia Rylance and Mikayla McCarvel all had one.
In the loss to Hill-Murray, Shakopee got down 4-0 after two periods and couldn’t recover. Sinnen finished with 30 saves, while Willmert had the Sabers’ goal with Grabianowski getting an assist.
Through 13 games, Willmert had a team-best 15 points (10 goals, 5 assists), followed by Heyer (4 goals, 8 assists), Grabianowski (7 goals, 4 assists), Parker (6 goals, 2 assists) and Nash (2 goals, 5 assists).
Shakopee’s last regular season game against a section foe is Jan. 31 at Chaska/Chanhassen. Other section teams include Bloomington Jefferson and New Prague.
Section quarterfinal play starts Feb. 11 with the semifinals Feb. 15 and the title game Feb. 17. Either Minnetonka or Eden Prairie have won the Section 2AA title last 12 seasons.
This year’s Class AA state tournament is set for Feb. 23-25 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. Top-ranked Andover is the defending champion.
