St. Thomas Academy at Hill-Murray
7:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 7

Looking for another top conference coming down to the wire? Check out the Metro East, which has No. 3-2A St. Thomas Academy (18-2-0) and No. 4-2A Hill-Murray (15-6-0) tied atop the standings with 8-1-0 records. Their game Saturday night at Aldrich Arena in Maplewood could very well decide the champion in the first year of the conference, which includes many teams from the former Classic Suburban.

The game is a rematch of the showcase game from Hockey Day Minnesota at Holman Field in St. Paul on Jan. 17. Hill-Murray grabbed the conference lead with a 3-2 overtime victory when Jake Wittl (9-2-11) scored midway through the extra session. Play was as even as the score, with Pioneers goalie Sean Wendlandt (9-5-0, 2.07, .908) making 29 saves and the Cadets' Matt Snow (12-2-0, 1.89, .914) finishing with 30 saves.

But Hill-Murray gave that one-game edge back a week later, falling to No. 3-1A Mahtomedi 4-0 and setting the stage for Saturday. The Pioneers have one of the state’s top defenses, anchored by Jacob Olson (7-15-22), but must contend with the St. Thomas Academy’s potent top line of Peter Tufto (22-32-54), Alec Broetzman (25-26-51) and Christiano Versich (17-34-51).