Hill-Murray defeats Holy Angels for fourth shutout victory in last five games

Hill-Murray's Chloe Boreen (18) sends a pass across the offensive zone. Boreen's two goals led the Pioneers to a 4-0 win over Academy of Holy Angels on Tuesday night. Photo by Cheryl A. Myers, SportsEngine

A consistent night for the Hill-Murray offense was the difference in a 4-0 win against Academy of Holy Angels in a matchup of highly-ranked teams.

Tuesday's game in Richfield featured two teams ranked No. 2 in the Let’s Play Hockey coaches’ polls—the Stars in Class 1A and Pioneers in 2A. Hill-Murray's offense stood out, as they scored at least one goal in each period Tuesday and outshot the Stars (19-4-1, 10-1-0) by 19.

Take one glance at the schedule, however, and you might notice the offense has not been the only driving force in many of Hill-Murray's wins. The Pioneers (19-2-1, 4-0-0) have allowed less than one goal per game on average this season. Tuesday’s shutout by goaltender Grace Zhan, who made 19 saves, was her eighth of the year.

Photo Gallery: Hill-Murray vs. Holy Angels

Hill-Murray coach Shawn Reid pointed to the strength of his team as a whole for the success in both the offensive and defensive zones.

“It’s hard to get the puck away from our forwards, it’s harder to get around the D, and it’s even harder to get it through Grace,” Reid said.

The dominant defense has helped an equally talented offense. The Pioneers are averaging nearly five goals per game, and four players have tallied more than 25 points on the season.

“We have very few unassisted goals this year," Reid said. "So we try to move the puck, try to get everyone involved and have a five-player rotation."

With the section playoffs right around the corner, the Pioneers might be playing their best hockey at the right time. Their last loss happened on Dec. 17, a 2-1 loss at Minnetonka. Since then, the Pioneers have won 12 games in addition to a 3-3 tie against Warroad.

“I think that we have a really good team chemistry,” said Chloe Boreen, who scored twice in Tuesday’s win. “We have really good bonding. We bond really well and we lean on each other for success. And that’s what really helps us.”

The Pioneers have three games left in the regular season schedule before the section playoffs begin, including another tough matchup against No. 6-2A Maple Grove. Then Hill-Murray will be aiming to make a deeper run than the past two seasons, both which ended in the Class 2A, Section 4 title game. Last season it was Gentry Academy that ended Hill-Murray’s season 4-3 in overtime and in 2021 Stillwater won in the title game 1-0.

Reid noted that heading into the tournament season, the team’s mentality is in a good place.

“I think we just need to just keep doing what we are doing,” Reid said. “Every day the players come to the rink trying to improve.”

Hill-Murray's Shae Stinnett (14) carries the puck into the zone under the watch of Academy of Holy Angels' defender Isabella Brama (2). Stinnett tallied assists on both of Chloe Boreen' goals. Photo by Cheryl A. Myers, SportsEngine

First report

Chloe Boreen and the Hill-Murray offense broke through in a 4-0 win at Academy of Holy Angels at Richfield Ice Arena Tuesday.

Boreen scored two of the Pioneers’ four goals in a game where the offense recorded at least one goal in each period. Sophie Olson and Jessica Dochniak also tallied goals, and Shae Stinnett recorded assists on both of Boreen’s goals.

Pioneers (19-2-1, 4-0-0) goaltender Grace Zhan stopped all 19 shots to preserve the shutout victory. Eva Bentley stopped 34 shots for Holy Angels (19-4-1, 10-1-0).

Academy of Holy Angels' goaltender Eva Bentley stopped 34 shots in a 4-0 loss to Hill-Murray at Richfield Ice Arena. Photo by Cheryl A. Myers, SportsEngine

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