We recently released the class of 2024 rankings that featured 50 of the best high school sophomores in the state. This article reveals the goalies that were in consideration for the top 50 but just missed the cut. After the season ends we will update and expand the rankings to around 75. All of these goalies will have a good chance to get on the update if they have a good finish to their respective seasons.
Aleksi Huson | 5’10 Goalie | Shakopee | Class of ’24 Currently Unranked
Aleksi Huson is having a pretty solid sophomore year for the Shakopee Sabers and was very close to cracking this list. Huson has a good SV Percentage at .906, but his GAA is a bit high at 2.87. I actually watched him this season early when he faced the Burnsville Blaze. He impressed to me as he shutdown a couple of odd man rushes and good shots from the point against Burnsville. He ended up saving 19/20 shots against the Blaze. The most impressive outing this year is when he got a 33 save shutout against the solid Chanhassen team. Huson is in the 50-60 range and will most likely be ranked in our update.
Josh Middleton | 6’0 Goalie | St. Louis Park | Class of ’24 Currently Unranked
Josh Middleton has been a starter for St. Louis Park since his freshman year. He had a very solid year for a freshman goalie in one of the top conferences in the state (Metro West). In his freshman season, Josh had a very solid save percentage of .893 and a GAA of 3.48. In his sophomore year, he has already improved on that as he is up to a .900 save percentage and a GAA of 3.08. Middleton’s most impressive performance this year is when he only gave up three goals against the potent Benilde offense on 46 shots faced. As of now we have him at the 55-60 range for the next update, but he could move up or down for sure as well.
Max Varner | 5’11 Goalie | Buffalo | Class of ’24 Currently Unranked
Max Varner is impressing us for sure as a sophomore, he has battled hard against some tough lake conference teams and has never had a truly terrible performance. Last night against Wayzata he faced 54 total shots and made a very impressive 51 total saves. A couple of weeks ago he also had a huge 1 goal performance on 21 shots faced in a 2-1 conference win over STMA. Varner is currently ar 2.96 for GAA, which is respectable for the very tough schedule he faces. He also has a nice .903 save percentage. Varner is oozing with potential and he is definitely growing a lot this year as a player with the tough schedule. We have him in the 70 range as of now. Watch out for him in the future.