Hilltoppers Girls Hockey Encouraged by Strong Start

4-1 overall, 5 GPG through five games

DULUTH, Minn.- Five games into the 2023-24 season, the Duluth Marshall girl’s hockey team has shown they’ll once again be in contention for the 7A Championship.

“This year we have a very skilled team, so that’s what we’re kind of focusing on is using our systems and working around our different skill levels that we have.” Last year, Callie Hoff took over as the Hilltoppers’ head coach after a stellar college career playing at UW-River Falls. Despite her inexperience behind the bench, Hoff led Marshall to 20 wins. “I’ve learned a lot from these girls, the way they’ve done systems before, the way I did systems in college, I took and taught them, but I’ve grown as a coach and also as a person.”

For the second year in a row, Duluth Marshall’s 2022-23 season ended in the 7A Championship game at the hands of Coach Hoff’s former team, Proctor/Hermantown. The 4-1 Hilltoppers will play the Mirage again on January 23 at Mars Lakeview Arena, but in the meantime, Hoff and her players will focus on becoming a state-worthy squad. “The ultimate goal is to get to that state tournament. Beating Proctor/Hermantown would be a great start for us in the regular season, and then going from there.”

Duluth Marshall will face North Shore on Tuesday before their Thanksgiving break.