Rosemount girls hockey co-coach Kyle Finn suspects it’s the biggest goal in Irish hockey history.
The Irish hadn’t reached the state tournament in more than a decade heading into the 2023 Class 2A, Section 3 final against Cretin-Derham Hall. Even advancing to that point was an achievement for the young squad. “A lot of people just would’ve been happy that we’d made it to the section final game,” Finn said.
Not Sophie Stramel. She was determined for more, and delivered.
The center skated down the ice in overtime with one Raiders’ defender close behind and another backtracking in front of her. As she neared the right circle, Stramel fired a wrister, tucking the puck inside the far pipe to beat the goaltender and send herself to the bottom of a dogpile — and the Irish to St. Paul.
“Just an unbelievable goal,” Finn recalled. “It’s fitting that she was the one who scored it.”
That’s because in many ways, Stramel is Rosemount girls hockey. The senior is the face of a program that will play in its third consecutive Class 2A state tournament on Thursday, when the seventh-seeded Irish battle No. 2 Centennial/Spring Lake Park in the quarterfinals at 11 a.m. at Xcel Energy Center.
Reaching St. Paul in three straight seasons would have been an unthinkable feat when Stramel joined the Rosemount varsity ranks as an eighth-grader.
“I never would’ve thought that in the years to come we’d be going three years in a row, let alone once,” Stramel said. “It’s super cool to be a part of a team like this. We all work so, so hard together, and we definitely deserve what we’ve been given. It doesn’t come without some hard work and a lot of teamwork.”
A lot of the success can be linked back to Stramel, the 2025 Pioneer Press East Metro girls hockey Player of the Year. She has team-leading totals of 27 goals and 28 assists.
“Sophie is extremely important to the team,” Finn said. “She is an infectious personality when she comes to the rink. The players on the team absolutely gravitate toward her. She’s got a smile on her face. She loves playing hockey. She loves competing, whether it’s practices or games. And that feeds through to the rest of the team.
“Everybody knows (that) when Sophie is on the ice, we’re going to be competing and we’re going to work hard and she demands more of herself than anybody else. It elevates the players around her. They see how hard she competes, and they know they have to do the same.”
Stramel’s powerful shot and hockey IQ — Finn called her “the smartest hockey player I’ve ever coached” — make her particularly lethal on the power play. But she’s also a key cog on the penalty kill.
“A lot of players who put up the kind of points that Sophie does, they tend to focus on the offensive side of the puck,” Finn said. “Sophie is a little different.”
Make no mistake, the Minnesota State-Mankato commit prefers the offensive end of the ice. But she takes pride in playing the entire sheet of ice like her brother, Charlie, a Minnesota Wild first-round pick playing center this weekend for No. 1-ranked Michigan State.
“Something that we’ve been told from our parents our whole lives is it doesn’t matter how many goals you score, it just matters that you’re the hardest-working player on the ice,” Sophie Stramel said. “I think just having that on my mind … (that) in the end, it’s not about how many points you score. It’s about your team and how much fun you’re having playing the sport you love.”
Finn noted Stramel has been a core member of Rosemount’s leadership group for years. Her ability to help make sure the Irish players are physically and mentally prepared has helped the coaches focus on the X’s and O’s.
This year, she has taken on an even larger leadership role, and is generating additional belief in herself. Stramel noted it was a nerve-wracking experience playing on varsity as an eighth-grader and attempting to carry the puck through a sea of upperclassmen.
The success that followed instilled a belief in herself, but Stramel said she often found herself feeding off the confidence of her older teammates. She spent last summer doing mental work to allow herself to become a source of optimism for all of her teammates.
“Coming into my senior year, (it was) like, ‘I really have to be a leader on this team,’ ” she said. “And I had to believe in myself that I can do whatever I put my mind to.”
Her individual list of big-time moments grows with each game she plays. Of course, it was Stramel who scored the game-winner in Rosemount’s 1-0 section final victory over Eastview last week.
“I love playoff hockey,” she said.
But her favorite Irish memory did not include her finding the back of the net. Stramel fondly recalls Maggie Erickson’s overtime winner in last year’s section semifinals, when Rosemount stunned heavily favored Lakeville North. “An unreal feeling that we all did it together and worked together,” she said.
In last week’s section final, Stramel was sent to the penalty box, where she was greeted by a little girl banging on the glass and waving to get her attention. Despite being irritated by the penalty, Stramel waved back and smiled, telling herself, “OK, it’s bigger than the moment.”
The girl’s mom texted a friend of Sophie’s mother to relay her child’s excitement. Finn noted that the second young kids walk into the arena, they’re usually looking for Stramel.
“They follow her around, they want pictures with her,” Finn said, adding “Sophie is unbelievable with the kids.”
That’s because, Stramel noted, when she was little, she always used to look up to the varsity players, and considers it an honor to have the roles now reversed.
“I love all the little girls in Rosemount — and boys, of course — everyone in Rosemount is supportive of high school hockey, so that’s awesome,” she said. “It’s pretty cool to have people look up to you. It’s an unreal feeling when you have the girls screaming in the stands for you, and seeing how much they look up to you.”
There’s an excellent chance the senior has already inspired the next Sophie Stramel, and likely more than just one, thanks to the way she has handled herself on and off the ice.
“She doesn’t do anything for the individual awards or the points or anything like that. She is all about what can she do for the program.” Finn said. “And everybody who’s in the program sees that. And everybody who’s connected to the program sees that, and that’s why they root for her so much.”
Finalists
Alida Ahern, senior forward, South St. Paul: Scored 29 goals to power the Packers’ offense.
Alaina Gnetz, junior forward, Woodbury: Minnesota-Duluth commit scored 33 goals to guide Royals to 22 wins.
Teagan Kulenkamp, senior forward, Centennial/Spring Lake Park: St. Thomas commit has 26 goals and 38 assists for state-bound Cougars.
Makayla Moran, senior forward, Apple Valley: Minnesota State-Mankato commit recorded 38 goals and 24 assists for the Eagles.
Lily Pachl, senior defender, South St. Paul: Harvard commit had 19 assists and 21 goals while patrolling Packers’ blue line.
Josie Skoogman, senior defender, Hill-Murray: St. Thomas commit leads a defense that’s allowed one or fewer goals in 17 games this season for state-bound Pioneers.
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