Andover vs. Maple Grove

5 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 1

This will be the penultimate game of the regular season for both teams, close enough to the end to label this annual late-season matchup as a de facto grand finale, the sort of ooooooh and ahhhhhh inducing show you’d see at a local Fourth of July fireworks display.

Andover and Maple Grove have been regular participants in the Class 2A state tournament in recent years (Andover in 2016 and 2017; Maple Grove in 2017 and 2018), fixtures atop the Northwest Suburban Conference standings most years and, this fall, bouncing around in the top eight or so of the state coaches’ Class 2A rankings since the first poll was released in mid-August.

This game is sure to be entertaining, and, given the history between these two, it's our pick for Top Game of the Week.

Andover has the edge in the series in recent years, going 2-0-2 since 2015. The Huskies (13-1-0, 11-0-0), ranked No. 2 in the poll from Sept. 23, are the favorite this year based on state rankings and conference positioning (they lead Maple Grove and Champlin Park by five points), and they feature one of the state’s best scoring tandems in senior Kelsey Kallio (13 goals) and junior Olivia Knoepfle (14 goals).

Going back to 2011, however, the series edge belongs to Maple Grove at 3-2-3. And Andover’s advantage in the current state rankings is minuscule as the Crimson are just a spot behind at No. 3-2A. Maple Grove (12-1-1, 9-1-1) can even counter with a fabulous scoring combination of its own in junior Emma Fournier (14 goals) and senior Lauren Bredensteiner (12 goals).