Northfield senior and University of Minnesota commit Ayla Puppe has been named Minnesota's 2024 Ms. Hockey.
Northfield senior and University of Minnesota commit Ayla Puppe has been named Minnesota's 2024 Ms. Hockey.
Northfield High School senior Ayla Puppe has been named Minnesota's 2024 Ms. Hockey. Puppe led the state of Minnesota in scoring this year with 111 points in only 30 games.
“Ayla is an exceptional hockey player. She is dominant on the ice. She is the best goal scorer in the state," Northfield head coach Paige Haley said when the finalists were announced. "Ayla can take control of games. Her ability to include her teammates around her in plays this year has contributed to our team’s success. There is not an athlete who works harder and wants it more than Ayla Puppe."
Puppe, a University of Minnesota commit, joins a storied list of Ms. Hockey winners including current PWHL stars Gigi Marvin, Taylor Heise, Hanna Brandt, and Grace Zumwinkle. The list of finalists that did not win the award that are in the PWHL grows larger including Abigail Boreen, Liz Schepers, Claire Butorac, Madison Bizal, Natalie Snodgrass, Sydney Brodt, Kelly Pannek, Sidney Morin, and Lee Stecklein.
Also honored this week was Hill-Murray netminder Grace Zhan who was named Minnesota's Senior Goalie of the Year Award.
Zhan posted a 1.39 GAA and .946 save percentage, along with six shutouts while posting a 23-4-1 record this season. She will play college hockey for Dartmouth College next season.
Puppe's 111 points is the 12th highest single season total in Minnesota high school hockey history, and only seven players have ever scored more, a list that includes American hockey legends including Natalie Darwitz, Winny Brodt-Brown, Gigi Marvin, and Krissy Wendall-Pohl.
Last year's Ms. Hockey was Ella Boerger who was the leading scorer for the University of St. Thomas notching 24 points in 35 games as an NCAA rookie.