November 16
Immediately before the Gopher game Saturday, I went to see another pretty good team play. Our Cardinal girls hockey team, new to class AA (the BIGGEST schools) this year, has started the season 2 – 0 after beating Red Wing on this day, 9 – 0 (and Moorhead earlier in the week, 8 – 1). Granted the Wingers were way overmatched and were playing their 3rd game in 3 days, but both Red Wing and Moorhead have great girl hockey traditions so they were impressive wins. I stayed to the end because we are so fun to watch with speed throughout the line up.
[The day began, as all Saturday mornings must begin, with a plain old fashion doughnut from Roer’s Family Bakery . . . ]
[I usually try to catch at least half of the JV games prior to the varsity match ups. It’s nice to walk into the arena and see a score like this . . . ]
[So, a couple shots of the JV in action . . . ]
[And the final score . . . ]
[Then, the post game handshakes. Good game, good game, nice game, good game . . . ]
[Then the varsity comes out for pre-game warm ups where they skate in circles at high rates of speed . . . ]
[The captains meet with the referees to discuss the niceties of the game. Our captains are junior Anna Doherty (7), junior Marki Oberg (10), and senior Mayson Toft (14) . . . ]
[This was parents’ afternoon. The gentleman in the middle looking a bit lost is Ron Rebrovich, former pro at the Alexandria Golf Club . . . ]
[Where’d your dad get that goofy looking cap?]
[Moms and dads . . . ]
[The Rebroviches receive a lovely parting gift from their daughter, sophomore Lauren (15), who scored a goal in the JV game . . . ]
[The long white line . . . ]
[Starting line up introductions: sophomore goalie Hailee Bailey (35) . . . ]
[Sophomore defense Makenna Aure (17) . . . ]
[I think the current lines and defense pairings are pretty much interchangeable at this time. There likely will be different “starters” frequently in the early season . . . ]
[Sophomore defense Riley Nyberg (21) . . . ]
[Freshman forward Ella Westlund (19) . . . ]
[Freshman forward Lauren Maras (27) . . . ]
[Sophomore forward Hanley Block (28) . . . ]
[I wonder if Coach Molly Arola was just showing off by starting 4 sophomores and 2 freshmen? But they can all play!]
[Super Fan Roger Riley returned for yet another year to sing the National Anthem . . . ]
[And away we go, a video from the start of the game . . . ]
[Mayson (14), an offensive defenseman, often makes pilgrimages into the opposition side of the ice . . . ]
[It looks like her 1-on-5 rush just dribbled wide . . . ]
[This is the line of senior Micah Summer (8), sophomore Peyton Boesl (6), and I believe junior Ella Johnston (11) . . . ]
[And on defense junior Ali Castle (22) . . . ]
[Now the line of sophomore Kaci Trosvig (25), junior Marki Oberg (10), and junior Anna Doherty (7) . . . ]
[Then Marki suddenly finds herself all alone . . . ]
[Makenna and Kaci on the attack . . . ]
[Then Lauren, a freshman who scored her first varsity goal in this game and who appears to already be a key player . . . ]
[Mayson chases back after the puck in the defensive zone . . . ]
[Lauren has developed a knack for being in front of the goal . . . ]
[Makenna made a beautiful end to end rush in the game and finished it with a goal . . . ]
[I don’t think this is the goal, but she has the ability to do this often . . . ]
[Ella and Micah trying to score from in front . . . ]
[Kaci’s in on goal here . . . ]
[And here comes Lauren again . . . ]
[Then Hanley in front. She was terrific as a freshman last year . . . ]
[After the 1st period, the game was never in doubt . . . ]
[This video was taken at the beginning of the 2nd period (Kaci (25), stickhandling in the corner, had a hat trick). About halfway through, I was visited by an old friend I hadn’t seen for a while. Martha Williams was a hockey mom back at the beginning of the Super Fans (of girls hockey) – her daughter Abby was the captain of our 2008 state champion- ship team and Abby now has a 5 1/2 month old daughter. Keep the legacy going . . . ]
[That appears to be Ali with the shot . . . ]
[Then I don’t know who takes a whack at it . . . ]
[Mayson’s on the point . . . ]
[This appears to be Kaci with a shot . . . ]
[Mayson and Kaci keeping the puck in the zone . . . ]
[With Micah trailing . . . ]
[Peyton takes a backhander . . . ]
[GOOOOAAAALLLLLLLLLLL!]
[Celebrate!]
[Up close and personal . . . ]
[With Anna . . . ]
[Marki and Anna on the chase . . . ]
[And they have it . . . ]
[Hailee in goal in the background spent most of the game as a spectator . . . ]
[GOOOAAAAALLLLLLL!]
[Hugs all around . . . ]
[After 2 periods, the only issue would be the final score . . . ]
[Across the rink, Cardinal broadcasters on KXRA . . . ]
[DMac and BCun . . . ]
[Makenna . . . ]
[Because of the score differential, the 3rd period was played on running time. Here Kaci and Marki swoop in again . . . ]
[Makenna stickhandling while Peyton searches for an exit . . . ]
[And Makenna carries into the zone . . . ]
[All the way to the goal . . . ]
[GOOOAAAAALLLLLL!]
[Celebrate!]
[GOOOAAAALLLLL!]
[Mayson with Riley on top . . . ]
[Judging from the alignment, GOOOOAAAAALLLLL!]
[The Cardinal bench . . . ]
[With coach Jeff Doherty and head coach Molly Arola . . . ]
[We’re off to a great start . . . ]
I’ve never lost a game. I just ran out of time. ~ Michael Jordan
Up Next: Well, we were in D.C. last week?
alexandriacardinals2.wordpress.com 