No. 4 Wayzata at No. 1 Hopkins
7 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 14
At Minnetonka Ice Arena
MN Girls' Hockey Hub Spotlight Game

Hopkins knew it had a strong team coming into this winter, but even coach Vin Paolucci has to be surprised by his Royals entering the third week of January. In 20 games, Hopkins has fallen just once and allows only 1.05 goals per game.

The Royals are anchored by senior goaltender Erin O’Neil (15-1-0, 0.95, .958), a Boston University recruit who helped vault her team into the top spot with a 2-0 shutout of three-time defending Class 2A champion Minnetonka last Tuesday. O’Neil stopped all 31 Skippers’ shots for her fifth shutout in 15 starts (she’s since earned her sixth in a 6-0 victory over Buffalo on Saturday). Corbin Boyd (20-33-53) and University of Minnesota recruit Nina Rodgers (24-21-45) lead Hopkins in scoring.

Only one team has managed to take down the Royals — their foe on Tuesday night, Wayzata.

But the Trojans aren’t on a roll entering the rematch, having lost two in a row to fall to 15-3-1 on the season. After allowing just 19 goals in the first 17 games, Wayzata gave up a season-high in a 5-2 loss to Eden Prairie and then another bundle in a 4-1 loss to Edina.

That’s an unusual trend for coach Becky Wacker’s team. In their first meeting with Hopkins, goaltender Sarah Stelter (11-3-1, 1.60, .925) stopped all 20 shots and leading scorer Kaitlyn Klein (16-25-41) netted the game-winner. Wayzata is strong defensively and relies on Klein, Sophia Shaver (13-19-32), Sophie Leininger (11-11-22), Carly Noble (10-8-18) and a deep crew of capable scorers. Nine Trojans have scored last least seven goals and a dozen have at least eight points. That’s the formula the Trojans need to follow to pull another upset at the Minnetonka Ice Arena.