As a necessary prelude, I must report that I, as an older person, on this day did not go home, or collect $200, while consecutively going to the opening session of Senior College at ATCC, then to the girls hockey game v. Bemidji at RCC, then to the girls basketball game v. Fergus Falls at AAHS, without once stopping to pass water or take on sustenance over a period of seven hours. This involved driving from the north side of town, to the near south side of town, back to the near north side of town, back to the far south side of town, back to the north side of town and home – I did have to stop twice for gas . . .
January 3
[Arrived at the RCC from Senior College just in time . . . ]
[This was the first of a girl-boy hockey doubleheader (though the boys would be playing Sartell?), but since I planned on leaving after the 2nd period for the girls basketball game I sat closer to the ice for a fast getaway. Here’s freshman goalie Hailee Bailey (35) . . . ]
[From my new perch, I would oft be up close and personal with right side defense, junior Mayson Toft (14) . . . ]
[The Boys (and girls) on the Rail, along with the amazing Mark Ripley on camera . . . ]
[The young Cards have struggled offensively this year though they usually outshoot their opponents . . . ]
[Thus, it was a nice surprise when freshman Kaci Trosvig (25) scored early . . . ]
[Mayson, again . . . ]
[Junior Meg Shercliffe (5) follows a teammate into the offensive zone . . . ]
[And Mayson, with teammates freshman defense Riley Nyberg (21) and Kaci . . . ]
[Riley and Mayson are back on the points as freshman center Hanley Block (28) moves in with her linemates . . . ]
[Head coach Molly Arola and the bench . . . ]
[Hailee was never too busy . . . ]
[GOOOAAALLLL! By Mayson!]
[Kaci, Hanley, with senior defense Olivia Kopp (13) . . . ]
[Cards are buzzing, the object of their attention appears to have fled to the right corner . . . ]
[GOOOAAAALLLL! By Hanley . . . ]
[Another GOOAAALLLL! By sophomore Anna Doherty (7) . . . ]
[An unbelievable 1st period scoring explosion . . . ]
[Four times doing skate-by bench fist bumps . . . ]
[Mayson behind Anna, sophomore defense Ali Castle (22), and senior forward Alexis Heckert (20) . . . ]
[Would take that after the 1st period every time . . . ]
[Looks like Hanley starting the 2nd period . . . ]
[Sophomore forward Marki Oberg (10) taking the draw with Ali behind . . . ]
[Two Cards chasing down a Lumberjack . . . ]
[Hanley . . . ]
[And again, with senior forward McKenna Ellingson (24) . . . ]
[Somebody with a blonde ponytail (boy, that narrows it down) . . . ]
[Hanley and Ali – have you noticed the plethora of underclassmen?]
[McKenna and Hanley both looking into the upper reaches . . . ]
[Not another much forgotten Kim Kardashian sighting?]
[Hanley point blank again . . . ]
[With freshman defense Makenna Aure (17) . . . ]
[McKenna and Kaci . . . ]
[And the attempted shot by Kaci . . . ]
[More pressure from Kaci and Hanley . . . ]
[And from Alexis and Meg . . . ]
[With Anna joining in . . . ]
[Junior forward Micah Summer (8) . . . ]
[McKenna right on . . . ]
[Awww, not quite . . . ]
[%^#$@ post, but that’s Marki behind it . . . ]
[And Hanley again . . . ]
[She always seems to be around the net . . . ]
[Anna . . . ]
[Her older brother would have a big game on the following night . . . ]
[Mayson’s in deep from her defensive position . . . ]
[I see the puck . . . ]
[I would have to leave now, but the Cards had the game under control. Hanley (her 2nd of the game) and Olivia would score in the 3rd period for a 6 – 0 win!]
[At the high school, the JV game was concluding. The Cards were making a little comeback that I believe closed the score to 3 . . . ]
[The varsity was in the background cheering their efforts . . . ]
[Go Cards!]
[But not to be. That may have been the JV’s first loss?]
[In recent years, the Cards and the Otters have been battling for the conference and section titles . . . ]
[Hi! Do you remember me?]
[I play quarterback (intramural) at Notre Dame . . . ]
[And I was a 3-sport star for the Cardinals . . . ]
[The Cards came into this game undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the state class AAA rankings. The Otters lost their first game of the year but have been on a 8-game winning streak since. It was a big game, as they say in these parts . . . ]
[A full contingent of cheerleaders were on hand . . . ]
[Senior center McKenzie Duwenhoegger (35) on the opening jump . . . ]
[The biggest crowd of the year was on hand . . . ]
[Otter fans even filled up a section . . . ]
[It’s still in the air, ladies . . . ]
[A tale of two halves. Here the Otters freshman guard, Ellie Colbeck, had a terrific 1st half . . . ]
[But the Cards senior guard, Kaye Paschka (3), turned the tables on her in the 2nd half . . . ]
[Until this game, the Cards just overwhelmed all their opponents with full court pressure, size, depth, and athleticism . . . ]
[Against the Otters, the Cards just played straight half court man-to-man defense, recognizing the Otters’ abilities to handle the ball and run plays . . . ]
[The Otters run a lot of weave, cut, and pass offense. Here all 5 Cards are deep to cut off any passing lanes – junior guard Mia McGrane (3), junior guard Ella Grove (11), Kaye, McKenzie, and senior forward Emily Jones (33) . . . ]
[Ella starts a drive . . . ]
[A shot goes up, or a rebound comes down?]
[The Otters have it . . . ]
[The Otters had a little run at the end of the half to take a 22 – 19 lead. The Cards seemed a bit out of sync, particularly with their shooting. Ella made a 3 to start the 2nd half, and we were off and rolling. Here Jonesie passes over the defense . . . ]
[Mia back peddled on defense as Colbeck brings the ball up . . . ]
[Kaye, McKenzie, and Jonesie aligned as the Cards played great 2nd half defense . . . ]
[Ella passes to Mia, though the camera focused on the ref’s part line . . . ]
[I was so into the game I forgot about the camera. Here Kaye dribbles out the clock as the Cards finished a near perfect half of basketball . . . ]
[We out scored the Otters 34 – 17 in the 2nd half. There were few turnovers by either team, as both teams handled the ball well against good defenses. But the Cards I believe shot over 70 per cent in the half, and made 4 of 6 3’s, one each by all the starters except McKenzie, who just missed one.]
[With a blowout win against Little Falls the next night, the Cards are now 11 – 0 and looking very good . . . ]
[The coaches shortened the bench for this game. There were no mass substitutions, as we’ve done all year, just an individual or two at a time. I’m sure everybody got plenty of playing time again in the following Little Falls game . . . ]
I’m a woman. Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That’s me. ~ Maya Angelou
Up Next: Boys hockey?
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