Like in Class A, the defending AA champion is back to guard its title, with Eden Prairie earning the fourth seed in this year’s iteration of the Minnesota Class AA Girls' State High School Hockey Tournament. Quarterfinal action begins on Thursday at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

The Eagles join three other teams that finished the regular season ranked in the top five of the Class AA state coaches’ poll, with No. 1 Edina taking the top seed, No. 4 Blaine earning the No. 2 seed and No. 3 Hill-Murray claiming the third seed.

Top-seeded Edina has earned wins over a pair of state tournament teams already this season, defeating Hill-Murray on Dec. 3 and earning two wins over Lake Conference rival Eden Prairie.

The Hornets have an impressive seven players committed to Division I colleges, including senior defender and Wisconsin commit Grace Bowlby, who is also a Ms. Hockey finalist.

Following is a preview of all four quarterfinal matchups:    

See complete Class AA bracket at mshsl.org

A stalwart defense led by senior defender and Minnesota commit Emily Brown propelled Blaine to State, as the Bengals (22-3-2) have allowed just 26 goals to opponents this season.

Junior forward Gabby Rosenthal (26-31-57) and sophomore forward Ramsey Parent (24-29-53) - both Ohio State commits - give the Bengals plenty of punch on offense. Junior goaltender Jaela O’Brien did not give a goal in the Section 5-AA playoffs, and boasts a goals-against-average of 0.95.

Roseau (19-8-1) rode the one-two punch of senior forward Lindsey Santl (23-14-37) and sophomore goaltender Kiana Flaig through Section 8-AA, with Santl recording four goals and 10 points and Flaig stopping 85 of 90 total shots in the three wins. With two of its key players hitting their strides at the best time, the Rams could give the Bengals a battle. 

Like Blake in Class A, Hill-Murray is making its fifth consecutive appearance in the State Tournament, and the Pioneers have lost just once in their last 14 games.

Junior forward and Minnesota commit Abigail Boreen (31-30-61) leads the Pioneers (23-4-1) in scoring, followed by senior forward and Bemidji State commit Lindsey Featherstone (13-28-41). Boreen was named to the Star-Tribune all-Metro second team.

Senior forward Molly Beckman scored with 19 seconds remaining in the Section 4-AA finals to lift Eastview (16-10-2) to the State Tournament for the third straight season. If the Lightning wish to avoid a third consecutive loss in the quarterfinals, it will likely rely on a strong performance from senior forward and Connecticut commit Natalie Snodgrass (23-11-34).

Joining Snodgrass, viable scoring options are junior forward Holly Sodomka and sophomore forward Annie Luzum, both of whom scored five points each in the section playoffs. 

Edina rolls into its third consecutive state tournament having just lost once all season, falling to No. 1-A Blake by a 2-1 score on Jan. 27.

The Hornets (25-1-1) have 10 players that have scored 10 or more points over the course of the season, paced by junior forward and Harvard commit Lolita Fidler (20-28-48) and senior forward Anna Klein (14-28-42), who has committed to Minnesota-Duluth.

As the No. 3 seed in the Section 1-AA playoffs, Farmington pulled off upsets over No. 2 seed Lakeville North and top-seeded Lakeville South to earn the trip to St. Paul.

The Tigers (16-11-1) have proven to be successful in close games, going 8-2 in games decided by just one goal. A clutch performer in those contests was junior goaltender Abby Bollig, who’s posted a 1.62 goals against average and a .927 save percentage. 

Defending Class AA champion Eden Prairie (19-6-2) is powered by senior forward Naomi Rogge, a Minnesota-Duluth commit and Ms. Hockey finalist. Rogge (35-22-57) has scored six of her goals in the month of February, and proved her performance increases on the big stage, leading the Eagles with four points in last season’s State Tourney.

Junior goaltender Alexa Dobchuk stopped 73 of 77 shots in the 2016 tournament, and has posted eight shutouts over the course of the 2016-2017 season.

Forest Lake (20-5-3) upended Elk River in the finals of the Section 7-AA playoffs, downing the top-seeded Elks 5-2 and earning back-to-back State Tournament trips.

The duo of senior forward Madi Nolan (17-34-51) and junior forward Kayla Kasel (32-16-48) has been the catalyst of the Ranger offense all season. Freshman goaltender Josie Bothun will be between the pipes for the Rangers, having totaled a 1.60 goals against average and five shutouts on the season.