If the Warroad girls’ hockey team made it to the top last season—and after netting their first state championship, they certainly felt like they did—they’re starting back at the bottom this year, coach David Marvin said. Coming from a team that is ranked No. 1 in Class A preseason standings after losing just three starters from last year’s 28-1-1 squad, that might seem like a funny statement.

But Marvin, in his fifth year with Warroad, is well aware that one of the biggest struggles in winning a championship is trying to do it again.

“It doesn’t happen very often, in any sport,” he said, noting there are a lot of quality contenders this season, including a tough early season stretch for the Warriors, who will face Class 2A No. 1 Minnetonka at home on Friday and No. 3 and 4 teams Edina and Hill Murray in back-to-back games in the first week of December. “We’re going to get every team’s best game,” he said, recalling preseason scrimmages this year, in which opposing teams celebrated “excessively” after merely scoring a goal on them. “We can’t take a day off; we just really need to guard against the complacency that can come the year after.”

The Warriors are hoping their opponents will have a tough time holding them down offensively. Warroad lost just one of their top six forwards—standout Brook Story, who now plays for the University of Wisconsin River Falls—leaving them with two front lines that can could provide the same matchup issues the team created last season. They also return goalie Shelby Amsley-Benzie, who recorded 17 shutouts last season and who is one of five D1-committed players on the team, and top defenseman Hannah Johnston on the backside.

“We’ve still got great balance and depth,” said Marvin, who is wary that scoring won’t be automatic when facing solid Minnetonka goalie Julie Friend. “We’re going to find out how hungry we are—really soon.”