Last season, I thought a young and inexperienced Rochester United team was at least a year or two away from being a real threat in Michigan high school hockey. The roster had 10 sophomores and just two seniors, so patience was to be expected. That is until then-second year coach Tucker Penning’s squad closed out the ‘24-25 campaign on an impressive eight-game winning streak to win a Division-II regional title; the program’s first in six years.

Ten games into the third season of the Penning era, and RU has started ‘25-26 as hot as they ended last March. A six-game win streak out of the gate and a 9-1-0 record overall. Heading into last weekend’s matchup with perennial Oakland Activities Association (OAA) powerhouse Clarkston, I once again would have thought that a much improved — and still young — RU team would still be a year or two away from competing with the likes of a Top-10 team.

I was wrong. Again.

Rochester United ranked 25th in my preseason rankings and moved up to 24th just after Thanksgiving. A monumental upset in convincing fashion over a previously untouchable conference opponent is a major statement. Follow that up with a non-conference win over high school hockey blue blood and current No. 25-ranked team Brother Rice, and RU is skyrocketing up the rankings.

Leading scorer Nolan Hizer has crooked numbers on the score sheet in all but one game so far. He is producing in bunches and doing it against everyone on the schedule. Skating on a line with Zach Brennan and Connor Cichocki, and this RU trio is fun to watch, scoring a combined 25 goals with six of them coming on the power play.

Mason McCaughtry provides steadiness on the back end as well, while guys like Ethan Haselhuhn and Nathan Heitchue provide depth. And the goalies haven’t been called upon to carry a ton, facing 28 shots just once this season. That tells me not only are they creative and versatile offensively, but playing stout and disciplined defensively as well.

Climbing up six spots in my recent Top-25 Rankings update, RU’s move into the 18-spot is the biggest jump by any one team week-over-week so far this season. At the rate they’re going, the rise may be far from over too.