Chaska/Chanhassen at Hill-Murray
2:30 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 9

As late as a week ago, Chaska/Chanhassen coach Jeff Wahl had been waiting for his team to take a step toward becoming one of the state's upper-echelon squads.

The Storm Hawks certainly accomplished that and made quite a statement after winning the Eden Prairie Mid-Winter Meltdown last week.

Chaska/Chanhassen entered the event ranked No. 10 but still in searching of its first win over a top 10-ranked opponent. The Storm Hawks finally found it after defeating then-No. 9-2A Cretin-Derham Hall 4-3 in the quarterfinals.

Chaska/Chanhassen followed that with a shootout victory over No. 15-2A Eagan before defeating No. 3-2A Minnetonka 3-2 in the championship despite getting outshot 32-11. Mollie Wise scored twice for the Storm Hawks in the win.

Senior goalie Bailey Jackson (11-4-1, 2.55, .902) has elevated her play since Chaska/Chanhassen's 4-2 loss to Eden Prairie on Dec. 1. She has allowed just 12 goals and posted a .949 save percentage to help the Storm Hawks (12-4-1) go unbeaten in their last nine games.

Chaska/Chanhassen will get its biggest test of the season in its matchup with Hill-Murray (13-0-1, 4-0), the two-time defending Class 2A state champion.

Five different players scored for the No. 1-2A Pioneers in a 5-0 victory over No. 17-1A South St. Paul in the Kaposia Classic Invitational third-place game on Jan. 2. Hill-Murray tied No. 1-1A Blake 2-2 in the semifinals of the tournament, but the Bears advanced with a shootout victory.

Laura Anderson (17-5-22) had a goal in each of the Pioneers' tournament games, which also included a 5-0 win over Bloomington Jefferson in the quarterfinals.

Jac Kaasa (12-6-18) is Hill-Murray's second-leading scoring while four others have six goals on the season.

Goalies Mari Johnson and Ava Bailey have split time in goal seamlessly for the Pioneers. Johnson is 6-0-1 with four shutouts and has a 0.55 goals-against average and a .963 save percentage. Bailey also has four shutouts while posting a 7-0 mark with a 0.57 goals-against average with a .960 save percentage.