STAUBER

From Page S21

“It will take a little time for them, but as I watch this team, I can see a team that’s going to be really good,” Gilderman said. “Just wait until things come together. Any early wrinkles are to be expected; it’s an adjustment.”

Gilderman recalled how Stauber started out as a very offensive-minded defenseman, scoring a lot of goals. But in 2009-10, when the Mirage advanced to the state tournament, he really needed her to guard the blue.

“And she did that all season until the section final, when she put us on her back,” Gilderman recalled. “She had a hat trick in that game, and that was the first time we went to state, so that was pretty cool. That tells you something about her as a player, that we needed her to be more of a defenseman, and she did it without questioning it.

“Emma was always really hard nosed, really hard working.”

Taylor Nelson

Cloquet-Esko-Carlton

Senior forward

Two-time All-Area selection tallied 31 goals and 24 assists last season and gives the Lumberjacks the Northland’s best one-two punch with teammate Kiana Bender

Alyssa Watkins

Proctor-Hermantown

Junior forward

NCAA Division I prospect is poised for a breakout year after notching 23 goals and 10 assists in helping the Mirage finish a program-best third at the Class A girls state hockey tournament last season

Maren Friday

Duluth Marshall

Junior defenseman

The Union College recruit is a force on both ends of the ice, scoring 14 goals and adding 22 assists as the Hilltoppers (19-9) advanced to the Section 7A final last season

Emma Quimby

Hayward-Ashland

Senior goalie

Carried the Hurricanes to a 12-10-4 record by posting stellar stats, with a 1.36 goals-against average, .933 save percentage and 11 shutouts to earn the Jessie Vetter Award as Wisconsin’s top goalie

And like Gilderman, she demands that of her players.

Stauber has a whistle and uses it plenty, but she tries to use stoppages as teaching moments, not just showing what a player might be doing wrong, but showing the difference between doing something the wrong way compared to doing it the right way, why it matters and how it makes a difference. Or it might not even be wrong at all, but it wasn’t the best option.

“It’s all listen, or else you get in trouble,” Watkins said, laughing. “If you don’t listen, it’s usually conditioning. If were not working hard, she’ll let us know. I feel like it’s

STAUBER: Page S24