The boys’ team now competes in section 2AA, which includes bigger high school teams such as Wayzata, Edina and Minnetonka, according to Bordewick.

“We will be playing really tough teams, but I am excited for the competition,” Bordewick said.

According to coach Terry Keseley, the difficult section makes for a platform to get better.

“I think that this helps us improve our program in the long run,” Keseley said. “We want to compete with the teams we are playing like Edina and Benilde.”

According to senior Conor Klaers, the change in section gives a positive push to the program.

“The new section is a huge step for the program to move forward because we are going to measure ourselves against the top teams and players in the state,” Klaers said.

According to junior Brody Ilstrup, the new section will motivate players to work harder.

“Everyone is excited to play big schools like Edina and Wayzata,” Ilstrup said. “We are hoping for wins but know we will have to work extremely hard if we want a shot at making it to state in our new section.”

According to Keseley, this year’s schedule will be one of the toughest schedules played.

“This is the hardest schedule we have had in the past two years and by playing these better teams we will get better,” Keseley said.

In order to prepare for the change in section, the team began practicing together and doing off-ice training to enhance the team’s performance, according to Keseley.

“We have a lot of players playing this whole summer and into this year which is good for our program and makes a big difference,” Keseley said.