Post-Tourney Notebook: Minnesota girls all-tournament teams, Ryan Kraft, Zoe Laming and more

ST. PAUL — Find out who made the Minnesota girls high school hockey tournament all-tournament team, the coach of the year in Class AA, and a couple notes on standout players from the past week

Class A:

• F: Nya Sieger (Proctor/Hermantown)
• F: Kenzie Keller (Mankato East / Wisconsin-Eau Claire)
• F: Rylee Bartz (Warroad / St. Thomas)
• F: Kate Johnson (Warroad / Bemidji State)
• F: Talya Hendrickson (Warroad / Bemidji State)
• F: Zoe Lopez (Orono)
• D: Abby Chamernick (Warroad / Hamline)
• D: Katy Comstock (Warroad)
• D: Mae Grandy (Orono)
• D: Lily Pachl (South St. Paul)
• G: Delaney Norman (South St. Paul)
• G: Celia Dahl (Orono)

Class AA:

• F: Lindzi Avar (Minnetonka / Cornell)
• F: Hannah Halverson (Edina / Wisconsin)
• F: Maya Engler (Andover)
• F: Ella Boerger (Andover / St. Thomas)
• F: Cara Sajevic (Gentry Academy / St. Thomas)
• F: Grace Delmonico (Gentry Academy / St. Thomas)
• D: JuliAnna Gazdik (Gentry Academy / Minnesota State)
• D: Jenessa Gazdik (Gentry Academy / Minnesota State)
• D: Cailin Mumm (Andover / St. Thomas)
• D: Olivia Dronen (Moorhead / Bemidji State)
• G: Zoe Laming (Gentry Academy / Northland)
• G: Uma Corniea (Edina / Princeton)

Gentry Academy goaltender, Zoe Laming (Northland College), was a relatively unknown name coming into the state tournament, but after winning the Class AA title and only allowing two goals the entire tournament, fans started to notice her standout performance. The senior earned a 22-save shutout against fifth-seeded Moorhead in the quarterfinals, then made 26 saves in an overtime victory against top-ranked Minnetonka and allowed just one goal on 20 shots in the title game against reigning state champion Andover.

Laming ended up being the only non-Division I committed player on the all-tournament team, aside from Maya Engler of Andover who is only a sophomore and cannot commit to a program until this summer. Only two netminders made the AA all-tourney team, so Laming made the cut alongside 2023 Senior Goalie of the Year Uma Corniea of Edina.

"Zoe was a surprised in terms of we knew she played well, but we didn't know that she would give us like an MVP-style performance," said Stars' head coach Billy Hengen after Saturday's game.

"She's like the voice of the team, the mature one," he added. "It's one of those things where the lights turned on and she decided she was gonna have her best performance of her life."

Even Laming's teammates were blown away by her performance and spoke very highly of her character.

"You know, this entire tournament I don't think I saw her flustered once," said senior Grace Delmonico (St. Cloud State). "She was calm every shot, every puck that went at her she was calm, so that definitely helped the team."

Many of the Gentry players enjoy calling Laming 'mom' because of her leadership and maturity on and off the ice.

It only takes one opportunity on the big stage to make a name for yourself and Zoe Laming did just that after allowing just two goals at state and helping propel Gentry Academy to a final record of 27-2 in 2022-23.

Anna Rader, Mankato East, Class A

Lauren O'Hara, Centennial/Spring Lake Park, Class AA

Moorhead's Ryan Kraft is the Class AA Coach of the Year after the Spuds ended the 2022-23 season with a 22-9 overall record and earned the consolation championship title at state.

Just a few years ago in 2018-19, the Spuds had only two wins the entire season (2-20-3), and now made their first state tournament appearance since 2006 in 2023. Moorhead also has two Division I players now on the roster in Olivia Dronen (Bemidji State) and Taylor Brueske (Quinnipiac).

The Spuds have improved leaps and bounds over the past couple of years and will likely be the favorite to win their section next year in 2023-24.

The Rink Live found a couple of teams at the state tournament wearing some stylish head-wear, check it out!