Taco Bell Team of the Week, brought to you by Border Foods

Editor’s note: This article recognizes the Taco Bell Team of the Week, brought to you by Border Foods. This new partnership builds off the popular “Taco Bell Teams of the Night” feature we had this past fall for football season. Going forward, all varsity teams from any sport at every Minnesota school are eligible to win the Team of the Week. The winning team each week gets — yep, you guessed it — free tacos from Border Foods and Taco Bell. See below for details on how to nominate a team. Thank you for reading Strib Varsity!

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A longtime youth and girls hockey coach, there is little Woodbury High girls coach Scott Waldo has not seen.

But he admits, readily and happily, that he did not anticipate the Royals’ burst out of the gates this season. Through 13 games, Woodbury is 12-0-1, allowing just 11 total goals. They’ve held opponents to one or fewer goals 10 times, with six of their wins being shutouts.

“I never saw this coming,” Waldo said.

After back-to-back 20-plus victory seasons, it’s no surprise Woodbury’s girls hockey program is having success. That standard has been set. But the Royals had some questions to answer coming into the season.

“We lost a few players [to graduation], have a couple of new coaches, had to jump up a few eighth- and ninth-graders,” Waldo said. “But we have some good leadership, and that’s made a difference.”

A key for Woodbury has been the sturdy, consistent goaltending of junior Alyssa Polaski. She leads the state in victories, and her six shutouts tie for the state lead. She is also among the leaders in goals against average at 0.84 and save percentage of .960.

“Alyssa has been on fire,” Waldo said. “She’s a very hard worker. She’s always the first player on the ice before practice.”

He added that a renewed emphasis on team defense has been equally responsible for the Royals’ stinginess.

“We have a new defensive core, and the girls are buying into what our coaches are saying a little more,” he said. “We’ve made a point of eliminating off-man rushes.”

Amazing start notwithstanding, Waldo said he’s not worried about his team becoming overconfident. There is too much they have yet to accomplish.

“We’ve never been able to hang a conference championship banner in our arena,” he said, adding that a new rule change would allow that. In past years, Woodbury’s official status as a cooperative program wouldn’t allow it to claim a conference title.

And then there’s the matter of Hill-Murray. The Pioneers have been the dominant team in Section 4, Class 2A, often standing in the way of Woodbury’s state tournament ambitions.

“The players know if they want to go anywhere, they’ve got to beat Hill,” he said. “I don’t worry about being overconfident with Hill out there.”

Nominate a team: Want to nominate a varsity team for Taco Bell Team of the Week consideration? Email us at varsity@startribune.com. Winning teams receive free tacos from Taco Bell and Border Foods.