Maple Grove at Blaine
3 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 21

Last season, Maple Grove didn’t lose its first game until Jan. 15 and finished with a 24-2-1 record after falling to Wayzata 5-1 in the Class 2A, Section 6 semifinals.

This season, however, the Crimson lost their season opener to Edina 4-1 and settled for a 1-1 tie with Anoka in their next game.

Ranked No. 6 in the Class 2A coaches' poll, Maple Grove (0-1-1) returns as the defending Northwest Suburban Conference champions, a title they took from Blaine, which won the league crown two years ago.

Junior Taylor Wente posted 24 goals and 23 assists last season for the Crimson. Also returning is senior Lauren Kaufman, who tallied 14 goals and 28 assists for a Maple Grove team that graduated just six players, including Abby Larson (12-15-27).

Guider’s Blaine team has been dominant in its first two games, a 9-1 win over Totino-Grace and an 11-0 rout of North Metro.

The No. 9-2A Bengals (2-0) bring back all-state honorable mention selections in defender Emily Brown and forward Paige Beebe, who guided Blaine to its first state tournament appearance since 2001.

The Bengals finished fifth at state with a 4-3 win over Eastview. Beebe led the team with 22 goals and 13 assists while Brown, a Minnesota commit, scored seven goals and had 17 assists.

Blaine graduated just three players, including goalie Makyala Tilton, who went 22-8-1 with seven shutouts and had a 1.53 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage.

Maple Grove moved from Section 6 to Section 5 this season, where it will try to dethrone Blaine.