2 weeks Ago By Jason Feldman
As the girls high school hockey season gets underway, here are 12 players to watch (in alphabetical order) in southeastern Minnesota: • Natalie Campbell, Mayo: The Spartans’ senior is their top-scoring returning defender (5-6–11) and is tied with sophomore forward Olivia Dahl as the teams top returning scorer. Campbell will anchor a top-four defensive corps for Mayo that also includes two juniors and a freshman. ADVERTISEMENT • Nora Carstensen, Dodge County: The two-time Post Bulletin All-Area Player of the Year is back for her senior season after a 35-goal, 58-point junior campaign.
Carstensen enters the 2024-25 season with 77 career goals and 145 points. She has one of the best – if not the best – shots in Section 1, as shown in last year’s state tournament, when she scored four goals in three games. • Megan Gamble, Century/JM: The senior forward returns this winter after leading the Panthers with 17 goals and 31 points as a junior, a total that also led all Rochester players.
She had four multi-goal games and one hat trick last season. Gamble begins her senior season with 39 career goals and 28 assists, for 67 points. • Aliya Gricius, Winona: A fifth-year starter, Gricius has been through the highs and lows of Winona re-starting its girls hockey program in 2020-21 after a three-year hiatus due to a low number of players.
She has been the Winhawks backbone over the past four years, facing almost 3,500 shots and stopping more than 3,100 of them (including making 92 saves in a game as an eighth-grader in the 2020-21 season). A more accurate measure of her ability, though, would be to look at her stats over the past two seasons, as the Winhawks’ program has grown. Since the start of the 2022-23 season, Gricius is 19-27-0 with a 3.
37 goals-against average, a .910 save percentage and four shutouts. She has one last ride with her high school teammates this winter.
• Ida Huber, Dodge County: A fifth-year starter and the Wildcats’ true backbone, Huber was at her best in the biggest games last season, backstopping the Wildcats to their first Section 1 championship and to a runner-up finish at the Class 1A state tournament. She went 22-5-0 with a 1.44 goals-against average, a .
906 save percentage and the second-most shutouts in the state (10). Including her eighth-grade season at Lourdes, Huber has career numbers of 57-34-2, 2.20 GAA, .
905 save pct. and 23 shutouts. • Grace Kober, Mayo: If it seems like the Spartans senior goalie has been around for a long time, it’s because she has been.
Kober enters her fifth season on the varsity, having started 52 games and compiling career numbers of a 3.36 goals-against average, an .898 save percentage and 9 shutouts.
Kober has more than 1,500 career saves and 19 career wins. She had her best season last winter, going 9-10-2 with a 2.58 GAA, a .
915 save percentage and 6 shutouts. • Maysie Koch, Dodge County: Koch was the Wildcats second-leading scorer a year ago as a freshman, when she scored 25 goals and had a team-high 25 assists. She had eight multi-goal games and one hat trick.
Just a sophomore, Koch is already in her fourth varsity season and has topped the 50-goal (52) and 100-point mark (115). • Mollie Koch, Dodge County: The standout forward for the Wildcats has one big weight off her shoulders. Koch enters her senior season having committed to Saint Mary’s University in Winona.
She is the glue on the Wildcats top line that includes Nora Carstensen and Mollie’s sister Maysie Koch. Mollie was third on the team last year in goals (16), assists (22) and points (38). ADVERTISEMENT • Kylie Meyer, Dodge County: One half of the Wildcats’ veteran defensive duo, along with Alexa Van Straaten, Meyer was a minutes eater for the Wildcats last season as they won the program’s first Section 1, Class 1A championship.
She is the top returning scorer among defenders on the team this winter, having scored three goals and 18 points as a sophomore. She has played in 79 career games as a Wildcat. • Katie Nelson, Century/John Marshall: In her first season on the varsity, Nelson played like a high school veteran.
As a freshman last winter, the forward finished fourth on the Panthers in goals (11), tied for second in assists (12) and was fourth in points (23). She was also a key contributor on special teams, where she scored one short-handed goal and assisted on four power-play goals. • Alexa VanStraaten, Dodge County: The other half of Dodge County’s outstanding 1-2 returning punch on defense, Van Straaten played important minutes for the Wildcats all season in 2023-24.
She came up big in big-time games, too, recording three assists in a 5-2 win against Simley in the Section, Class 1A championship game, then scoring a goal and assisting on another in the Class 1A state championship game. She had seven goals and 18 points last year as a sophomore. • Daelyn Williams, Century/John Marshall: A standout forward who can also play defense, Williams enters her senior year coming off back-to-back 13-goal seasons.
Last winter she added a career-high 12 assists for 25 total points. Entering her fifth varsity seasons, she has 39 career goals and 63 points..
