On Saturday, Feb. 21, Hill-Murray defended its Class 2A girls hockey title to win the program’s fourth state championship, while in Class 1A, Breck won its fifth title in its first trip to state in six years.

Meet six players who made an outsized impact on their teams’ success in this year’s state tournament at Grand Casino Arena. Two freshman goaltenders backstopped their teams to state titles, two sophomore defenders played beyond their years and two senior forwards did their best to will their teams to the finish.

Players are listed in alphabetical order.

Olivia Braunshausen

Hill-Murray sophomore defender

Introducing Braunshausen to the media after Hill-Murray’s quarterfinal victory, co-head coach John Pohl misspoke and said she was a a junior before correcting himself. It’s understandable, in a way; Braunshausen is a rock solid, veteran force on the Pioneers blue line.

Not only did Braunshausen record a goal and an assist in each of the Pioneers’ quarterfinal and semifinal victories (two of her four goals this season), but her stick positioning and blocked shots helped the Pioneers keep a dangerous Centennial/Spring Lake Park team quiet for the first two periods of Hill-Murray’s 4-3 state championship victory.

Annabelle Buccicone

Centennial/Spring Lake Park sophomore defender

After scoring six goals in the regular season, Buccicone scored six in six postseason games, including one in the Cougars’ quarterfinal and semifinal victories. She also assisted on two goals in the state tournament, one in the semis and another in the championship game.

In addition to her defensive duties, Buccicone played the “bumper” role on the Cougars power play, stationed in the high slot to deflect shots.

“She’s a bulldog in there, gets in there,” Cougars coach Sean Molin said. “She’s finished a few really big goals down in there, and she just provides a lot of energy.”

Clara Milinkovich

Breck freshman goaltender

Ahead of Saturday’s championship game against Warroad, Milinkovich kicked off her team’s lineup announcement by skating up to the blue line and staring down the broadcast camera, wide-eyed.

But the Mustangs goalie, making her state tournament debut as No. 2 Breck returned to the Class 1A state tournament for the first time since 2020, was anything but wide-eyed once the puck dropped.

Rival Blake outshot the Breck 45-32 in the semifinals, but Milinkovich came up big with 43 saves in her team’s 3-2 victory. Breck was again outshot in the state title game 38-22, but Milinkovich looked sharp and steady, using her athleticism to make big save after big save.

“She’s the goalie you’ll always want back there,” Breck sophomore defender Alexis Ulrich said. “She’s the most lighthearted freshman I think I know, but she’s also super, super competitive.”

Milinkovich, who also started for Breck as an eighth-grader, led the state in both save percentage (.968) and goals-against average (0.71) in the regular season. She backed it up come tournament time, earning “MVP” chants from the Breck student section.

Lorelai Nelson

Edina senior forward

Five years with Edina, five state tournaments for the Penn State commit. It’s an impressive run for the 2024 state champion, who did all she could to try and will the No. 4 Hornets back to the Class 2A title game.

The Ms. Hockey finalist scored a hat trick in Edina’s 6-4 quarterfinal win over Bemidji. Then, in the third period of the semis, Nelson muscled her way to the Hill-Murray goal to tie the game late.

Edina still ended up falling 3-2 to the Pioneers.

“It’s always so special making it here, and an honor to come here and participate in the tourney. I’m so lucky to have experienced it so much,” Nelson said.

Taylor Reese

Warroad senior forward

Reese made herself the target of the Dodge County student section’s ire when, after the top-seeded Warriors’ quarterfinal victory, Reese said in a postgame news conference she wanted a semifinal matchup with Dodge County in the hopes of avenging last year’s title game loss to the Wildcats.

She said afterward she hadn’t realized how far the video would reach, but regardless, Reese backed up her words with a hat trick in the Warriors’ 6-5 overtime win over Dodge County.

Reese was also a bright spot in the Warriors’ championship game loss. She blocked shots, crashed the net and set up junior Jaylie French for a goal in the third period.

“I never stopped believing in our team, even at the end there,” Reese said.

Piper Tam

Hill-Murray freshman goaltender

Tam was rock solid through the first 51 minutes of the Pioneers’ state championship win, putting up 12 of her 33 saves in a second period that saw Centennial/Spring Lake Park press hard.

But the Cougars couldn’t find a way past Tam, who also backstopped the Pioneers to their 2025 championship as an eighth grader. Tam got her pads on the Cougars’ toughest shots and swallowed up the rest, giving away few rebounds.

She topped last year’s 24-save championship game performance with a 33-save win this year. She was perfect until the Cougars pulled their goaltender and buried a trio of goals in the game’s final three minutes.