December 5
The once-defeated Willmar Cardinals came to town to take on our undefeated Cardinals. It turned out to be a tough night in Alexandria for Willmar teams as our girls and boys hockey teams and boys basketball team all won . . .
[It was a hockey fundraiser of pulled pork sandwiches in the Warming House. Never made it there through the throngs . . . ]
[Our Cards are introduced beginning with junior forward Maci Tillesjkor (29) . . . ]
[Then senior forward Micah Summer (8) . . . ]
[Junior forward Ella Johnston (11) . . . ]
[Sophomore defense Riley Nyberg (21) . . . ]
[Sophomore defense Makenna Aure (17) . . . ]
[Sophomore goalie Hailee Bailey (35). Again, I think Coach Arola uses the pre-game introductions as a chance for the all players to get recognition . . . ]
[OK, let’s go out and show them we can be really good hosts . . . ]
[And we’re off and skating. Junior defense Ali Castle (22) with a shot from the point with junior forward Anna Doherty (7) along the boards . . . ]
[Sophomore forward Kaci Trosvig (25) and freshman forward Lauren Maras (27) peel off in opposite directions in the offensive zone . . . ]
[And continue circling . . . ]
[Anna and Kaci cross the blue line with speed . . . ]
[Anna (7) circles with the puck with junior forward Marki Oberg (10) and Ali (22) . . . ]
[Kaci’s in on goal . . . ]
[This line of Anna, Kaci, and Marki would strike terror in the hearts of the Wild. Though still just 2 juniors and a sophomore, all have been regulars since they were in the 8th grade. They are all talented and now with plenty of experience . . . ]
[And here is a member of what would ordinarly be called the “diaper line” for their youth. It consists of freshman Ella Westlund (19), freshman Lauren, and sophomore Hanley Block (28). They are already making their mark . . . ]
[Makenna (17) is an offensive defenseman who will often be in on goal . . . ]
[Our Cards received an early bench penalty (too many players on the ice). Though Willmar didn’t score on the power play, it set the tone of play in the period. The first period was even, though I had no concerns . . . ]
[The diaper line tees off the 2nd period . . . ]
[Maci’s line continues as our Cards established their usual swarming tempo . . . ]
[Makenna chases in to keep the puck in Willmar’s zone . . . ]
[We’re on a power play here as Kaci is back on point . . . ]
[Marki and Anna chase down the draw . . . ]
[Senior defense Mayson Toft (14) fires from the point . . . ]
[The main idea on the power play is to get Mayson the puck, have her shoot, and everybody else scramble for the rebound . . . ]
[Here’s the scramble . . . ]
[Then Makenna steps into one for my favorite photo of the night as the puck whizzes by Willmar’s No. 19 . . . ]
[Riley’s looking for loose change around the net . . . ]
[The puck escapes exit left . . . ]
[But here we come again . . . ]
[Then, GOOOAAAALLLL! Shorthanded by Hanley . . . ]
[Hugs all around . . . ]
[The game was now tied, but our Cards were now fully in control . . . ]
[Anna . . . ]
[Ella on a 1-on-6 situation . . . ]
[And the Cards score again following continuous pressure, Kaci from Marki . . . ]
[The diaper line makes a move . . . ]
[Then Makenna, who is not averse to making end to end rushes . . . ]
[She carried it deep and has a teammate at the goal . . . ]
[The Trosvig line, but the puck has slipped behind Kaci . . . ]
[Oh, there it is . . . ]
[The Ellas (Johnston (11) and Westlund (19)) are in together . . . ]
[And Ella Johnston gets the goal unassisted (she’s hidden behind the two Willmar players on the left) . . . ]
[Ali and Riley on this defensive pairing. Coach tries different combinations . . . ]
[And Ali gets a goal, assisted by Anna and Kaci (the scoring showed assisted by Meg Shercliffe (5), but I don’t think Meg was suited for this game) . . . ]
[The game was well in hand after the 2nd period. Willmar brought a pretty good fan base who were quite excited after the 1st period, but the 2nd left no doubt . . . ]
[The Trosvig line starts period 3 . . . ]
[The diaper dandies here . . . ]
[Riley faces down the Willmar star, junior Bailey Olson (7). She must be good because I remember her from previous years . . . ]
[Lauren and Hanley make annoyances of themselves . . . ]
[Makenna patrol the far reaches . . . ]
[Hanley’s out with Anna and Kaci . . . ]
[And here was the prettiest goal of the game. Hanley circled around out front, beat the defense to the edge, and fired a one-timer, her 2nd goal of the game . . . ]
[If unable to see a number, Lauren is easy to pick out because her helmet sits high on her head, you can see her forehead. I don’t know if that’s by design?]
[Wrapping up the close-ups with Lauren and Ella . . . ]
[Micah comes in on a solo . . . ]
[But fires just left . . . ]
[Lauren wrapped up the scoring . . . ]
[With assists from Marki and Ella Westlund . . . ]
[Some final shots sans telephoto lens . . . ]
[A very nice win to move to 6 – 0 on the season . . . ]
[But now we’re on the road for the rest of December. Six straight games away from home.]
A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle. ~ Gloria Steinem
Up Next: It will be multiple choice . . .
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