Sandahl reflects pride in girls tournament
Sanya Sandahl, goaltender for the Duluth Dynamite girls hockey team and a finalist for the Ms. Hockey award presented to the top senior goalie in the state, was an integral part of the Duluth team’s first venture to the state girls hockey tournament.
With the majority of the girls from Duluth East, and several from Denfeld, Sandahl was the only regular from Central, and she agreed to keep a journal for the Budgeteer News on her view of the historic tournament.
Sandahl’s exceptional play includes a 1.3 goals-against average and a 94 percent save mark during the team’s 21-6-1 season, and is more remarkable because she never played hockey until eighth grade. Born in Duluth, she and her family moved to Bemidji, then to Edmonton, Alberta, where she lived for six years, until the family moved back to a Duluth residence in the Lakewood area on the Lester River Road.
She was in the eighth grade then and was active in sports, but “hated figure skating,” she said, so she decided to try hockey. She made the first team she tried out for as goalie “because the other goalie had never played, either.” Sandahl is the perfect example of the merits of the combined-school team, because otherwise Central wouldn’t have had enough players to field a team.
Other Sandahl facts: She hopes to attend and play hockey at Princeton or Cornell; she’s quick-witted with a good but sometimes sarcastic sense of humor, a 3.86 student whose favorite subjects are math and physics; she loves animals, particularly dogs, and her family has an Alaskan malamute and a golden retriever; she used to ride horses but gave it up for hockey; her favorite food is pizza, and she prefers cheese-only, from Domino’s; her favorite color is black.
Here is a goalie-masked view of state tournament weekend:
By Sanya Sandahl
Special to the Budgeteer
(Wednesday, Feb. 17) We were all ready to leave Duluth at 8:30 a.m., but one of our captains, Leah Wrazidlo, was late. Not only that, we were held up by a presentation of awards from the city of Duluth.
We finally arrived in St. Paul, but, of course, we went to the wrong hotel. Yes, we had already unloaded and had to reload the bus. Finally, we checked into the Radisson Inn, which I must say is a very nice place. It’s even connected to the Town Square on the second floor, which resembles a small mall.
Ten minutes after checking in, we left for practice in Cottage Grove. That practice led us into the most exciting event of the day. The entire team, half in dresses and the others in sweaters and nice pants, went to the state tournament banquet, held at the Radisson Hotel to welcome the eight teams. We had spaghetti for dinner, and then all the teams were introduced by their coaches. At that point it was just an honor to be part of the experience.
We had a chance to purchase the limited-edition Minnesota Rink Rats tee-shirts. We were so excited to see our jersey on that rat; we really made it to State! I must say, that Duluth jersey sure looks a lot better than Hibbing’s.
After the banquet, we returned to teh hotel. The girls had some energy to burn after sitting for two hours, so the beds were used as trampolines, as our great role models, Tresa Lamphier and Leah, attempted flips from one bed to the next.
(Thursday, Feb. 18) In preparation for our game against Mankato at 7:15 p.m., we went to breakfast at Perkins. After stuffing ourselves, we proceeded to shop at Rosedale to satisfy the girls’ craving for Abercrombie andFitch. Again, we went to Cottage Grove for a pregame practice.
At 7:15, we stepped on the ice at the Coliseum for our first-ever state tournament appearance. We came out flying, but were slowed to Mankato’s pace for the second and third periods. All the girls played well, and we came out ahead 5-2.
After all the press and loyal fans had cleared out, we stayed to scout our next opponent. We watched Roseville romp Burnsville [5-0] to advance to the semifinal. That game was fairly late and we were getting really tired as midnight approached, so we ordered pizza from the hotel and then went to bed.
(Friday, Feb. 19) With our game against Roseville not scheduled until 9:15 p.m., coach Jack Shearer gave us free rein until practice in the early afternoon to roam the area.
We all took off in our own directions, some getting lost in downtown St. Paul, and others just being lazy in their rooms.
At practice, we went over strategies to use against Roseville. Starting with practice, our intensity began to rise, and many girls had fire in their eyes. The nerves had settled and our one team goal was to win this game.
We left the hotel early to watch the first semifinal between South St. Paul and Bloomington Jefferson. We anxiously waited in our locker room while their game went into double overtime.
In our game, we came out flying and won the first period 1-0, even though I kept awfully busy, with us being outshot 12-2. The whole team was focused and determined, but we came up short, eventually losing 3-2. Despite the loss, we played our hearts out and performed better than I’ve ever seen over our three-year history.
Being one goal away from the state championship game was both the best and worst feeling for many of us. We were all so proud of each other having reached this point and the unforgettable game played. On the other side was the disappointment of losing a game that we’d fought so hard for. After all, we gave Roseville — the eventual state champion who beat Burnsville 5-0 and Jefferson 9-2 in their other games — their biggest challenge of the tournament.
That’s pretty good considering people south of Hinckley didn’t believe we belonged in the state tournament.
(Saturday, Feb. 20) After not getting off the ice until after midnight last night, we kind of ran out of gas in the third-place game against South St. Paul. We woke up fairly listless, but gradually perked up to play a good game in the last two periods. We tried, but we had nothing left to give but we lost 3-0.
We took home the fourth-place trophy and the sportsmanship banner, which was quite an honor for most of us. Our finish of fourth out of 98 teams in Minnesota, even our birth in the state tournament, exceeded many people’s expectations.
Yes, girls hockey does exist in Northern Minnesota in places other than Hibbing. The seniors’ emotions were focused on having played our last game, but it was also the last time that the Duluth Dynamite would play. I think we accomplished a lot for a team with only a three-year history to leave behind.
Athlete of the week
SANYA SANDAHL/ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
School: Duluth Central.
Team: Duluth Dynamite
Sport: Girls hockey
Quick stats: The Dynamite reached the state tournament with their first Section 8 girls hockey championship in a 4-3 victory over Hibbing. While compiling a 20-4-1 season, Duluth was outshot quite often, but the goaltending of Sandahl rendered it meaningless. Hibbing outshot Duluth 31-18 in the section final, but Sandahl’s 28 saves secured the victory.
For the season, the senior — and the only Central participant on the Dynamite team that also includes East and Denfeld girls — has a 1.30 goals-against average and a save percentage of 94. She never played hockey until eighth grade, but now has hopes to study, and play goal, at an eastern college, maybe Princeton or Cornell.
Coach’s quote:
“Sometimes we don’t play our best unless we’re facing a top team, but Sanya is always consistent. It seems like our players get overlooked when it comes to post season awards, so it’s great to see Sanya as a finalist for the top senior goaltender award.”
—Jack Shearer, Dynamite coach.
Smith, Gophers whip UMD 4-1
Captain Wyatt Smith broke a scoreless tie in style Friday night, scoring a pure hat trick to ignite Minnesota to a 4-1 romp over UMD before 5,347 fans at the DECC in the opener of the final home series for the last-place Bulldogs.
The teams battled through a scoreless first period, but the Gophers’ fleeting chance to still attain home-ice for the playoffs inspired Smith, who scored midway through the second period and twice to open the third to run his season total to 20 goals.
After that, the game became a penalty-fest, which was unpleasant, and showed only slightly more than the lethargic Bulldog performance that left them no chance against the talented Gophers. Minnesota outshot UMD 49-29, and only heavy-duty work by Brant Nicklin in goal prevented a worse runaway in a game that turned ugly in the third period, when 27 minor penalties, one major and three misconducts indicated UMD’s level of frustration.
“That’s the way it always is between us,” said Smith.
UMD’s Jeff Scissons disagreed. “I think the series usually brings the best out of both teams,” he said. “In our case, we’ve been talking for two weeks about how this is our chance to prove something, because we’re playing the Gophers and we know there’ll be a lot of people there.”
The coaches saw the hassles from a similar perspective.
“I think what happened was you didn’t see the usual energy they’ve had, and when you don’t move your feet, you end up reaching. There was some heavy-duty lumber being given out there.”
UMD coach Mike Sertich was exasperated. “Anybody can play,” Sertich said. “But it’s different to compete. I can’t believe a kid can go out there and be uncompetitive. How can you come to the rink and not compete?”
The first two periods were almost what you might predict for two light-scoring teams battling to move up from lowly stations: Neither team could score a goal except for one during a power play, and then not by the team on the power play.
The Gophers had outshot UMD 12-9 in the scoreless but fast-paced first period, then they built a 20-5 edge in shots in the second period, when Smith got Minnesota’s offense untracked.
His first goal came with Minnesota killing a penalty to Mike Anderson, and Smith rushed with a pass from Aaron Miskovich. Crossing center ice, the Gopher captain veered left to get outside UMD freshman defenseman Mark Carlson, in a duel of former Warroad stars, and Smith cut loose with a quick slapshot from the left circle that beat Nicklin low to the far side at 12:46 of the middle period.
Nicklin, just back from recovering from a sprained knee, aggravated the knee on one of the more acrobatic of his 19 saves in the second period, but he was exceptional in keeping the score 1-0 until the second intermission.
The tight game broke open in the first three minutes of the third period, thanks to Smith, who ignited a three-goal splurge.
Erik Westrum picked off the puck at center ice and fed Smith for a goal at 0:36 of the final period. Westrum and UMD’s Jesse Fibiger were penalized for roughing after the goal, but Smith stayed out on the 4-on-4 and deflected in a right-point shot by Dylan Mills at 1:34.
“On my first goal, Misky made a nice play,” said Smith. “On the second, it was Westy, again the product of nice passing. The third one was Moose’s [Mills] goal, I set up in front and he shot and I just happened to get a piece of it.”
When Dave Spehar was penalized at 2:23, Minnesota connected again shorthanded, with Westrum, just out of the penalty box, poking the puck free at the point, rushing up the left side and beating Nicklin with a slapshot to the right edge at 2:59.
The three goals in a 2:23 span boosted the lead to 4-0, but it also seemed to awaken the slumbering Bulldogs, who finally got a puck on net, and actually past freshman Adam Hauser. Derek Derow got the Bulldog goal, on a power play at 4:16, but he had to bat Jesse Fibiger’s rebound out of the air to score.
Then the game turned ugly. It would have been most expedient to end the game right then, because whether UMD’s frustration finally showed through, or the teams just decided they didn’t like each other, they earned a combined 17 minor penalties and two misconducts in a 5:23 span, from 4:45 to 10:08.
Hockey highlights were few and far between thereafter, and every whistle seemed to inspire an altercation. With 4:31 to go, the ‘Dogs had a good scoring chance at the crease, but bodies filled the net and the puck wouldn’t go in. When order was restored, UMD’s Mark Carlson was tossed for a 5-minute major for pile-driving the goaltender.
Bois and the boys seek redemption against Gophers
Growing up in Longlac, Ontario, Curtis Bois knew nothing about the hockey programs at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, or about the University of Minnesota. He didn’t know that Minnesota played all Minnesotans, while UMD, since its start in major college hockey, always used a blend of Minnesotans and Canadians.
In those days, Bois — pronounced “Bwah” — was one of eight or 10 boys — pronounced “boys” — who comprised the Longlac Timberwolves youth teams.
“We only had eight or 10 players, but we dominated the teams from Thunder Bay,” Bois said. “We beat all their teams consistently. We were only a little logging community of 2,000, located about 3 1/2 hours north of Thunder Bay, but we’ve had some good players along the way. My brother played at Princeton two years ago, and Adam Rodak played at St. Cloud State.”
Bois went on to play junior hockey in the USHL with the Thunder Bay Flyers, and led them with first-team all-star statistics of 41 goals, 54 assists for 95 points in 53 games in the 1994-95 season. Then he came to UMD. It seems like just yesterday, but it has flashed past him. He has been frustrated as a goal-scorer, getting just three in his freshman year, 10 as a sophomore and nine last season. He has six this season.
“I expected a lot more goals of myself,” Bois said. “It’s been a rough year. I really expected to be a big player in the league this year. I’d like to go on and play, and use this year as a building year. Instead, I took a few blocks off.
“This is my last weekend at home in the DECC, and I’ve been thinking about it. You think of the friends you meet and the special bond you have with your teammates. We’ve showed a number of times we can play with anyone in the league, and we’ve been better than our record all season. In all honesty, we should be ahead of a lot of the teams that are ahead of us.
“It’s almost unfair the way this year has gone, for the team and for us. Maybe this is all a test of how much I love the game. We’ve been through all this, and something good could still happen, this weekend, and in the playoffs. It all started off on a bad note at Minnesota…”
Back on season-opening weekend at Minnesota, the Gophers had already played two exhibition games and UMD had played none, but UMD got a 2-2 tie when Richie Anderson scored with 3:29 remaining.
The next night, Ryan Homstol scored a goal that would tie the game 2-2 in the second period; the shot went off goalie Adam Hauser, up into the roof of the netting, and landed in the goal, a couple of inches across the line. The referees, holding a delayed penalty, were slow arriving on the scene, and, inexplicably, the goal judge didn’t turn on the light during the several seconds the puck sat there. Gopher senior Reggie Berg then reached his stick in and whisked the puck out, and the goal never was counted. Instead of a 2-2 tie, the Bulldogs ultimately lost 3-1.
The opening tie and tough loss didn’t seem too bad, but the Bulldogs lost two more close ones the next weekend at North Dakota, then came home and lost two more to Wisconsin. The pattern continued, with the Bulldogs playing well enough to win, but finding ways to not win. And last place, unfair or not, is the result.
That leads to this weekend’s final home series for seniors Bois, Bert Gilling and Tony Gasparini. It didn’t take Canadians Bois and Gilling long to realize the extra intensity involved when the Bulldogs face the Gophers — especially in Duluth.
Hockey collisions between the Gophers and UMD in Duluth have always been memorable.
In the first meeting between the two in the Duluth Arena, before it was called the DECC, when UMD first entered the WCHA, Glen Sonmor was in his first year as Gopher coach, and UMD All-American Keith (Huffer) Christiansen lured the Gophers off with Pied Piper-like ease, then passed to teammates at the goal-mouth. He recorded six assists and the Bulldogs won 8-1.
There was the mind-boggling series to open the 1969-70 series, when Ralph Romano’s UMD team pasted the Gophers 7-3, but fans better remember the second game, when a check near the boards with the score tied caused a fan to reach out to protect himself. Sonmor figured the fan was trying to grab Minnesota freshman Mike Antonovich, so, in a flash, Sonmor leaped off the bench and into the stands and beat up the fan.
Police cleared the entire section, and, with Sonmor’s tie still in place but his white shirt torn to shreds, the Gophers rallied to win 3-2 in overtime. The Gophers went on to a magical season and a surprising WCHA title, and they returned to the Duluth Arena to beat UMD 3-2 in a three-overtime thriller in the WCHA playoff semifinals.
The Gophers traditionally opened the season at UMD in those days, and the Bulldogs had a 5-1 record against Sonmor’s Gopher teams in those season-openers at Duluth. Herb Brooks replaced Sonmor, and after the Bulldogs won the next two season-openers from the Gophers, Brooks quit scheduling games at Duluth on opening weekend. That didn’t reduce the intensity of the rivalry, or the penchant for spectacular games between the teams on DECC ice.
Current Gopher coach Doug Woog is 2-0 in openers at Duluth, but are 18-10-1 overall in the DECC coming into this weekend. The last time the Gophers played at the DECC, UMD won 7-3 in last year’s playoff opener, then Minnesota won 5-0. In the third and deciding game, UMD rallied from a 4-0 deficit in the final period to eliminate the Gophers 5-4 in a spectacle that concluded with UMD coach Mike Sertich sliding into the net in a one-man celebration.
One of the biggest differences between the two is still on display this weekend. The Gophers are all-Minnesotan, while UMD has a mixture of Minnesotans and Canadian players, plus the occasional North Dakotan, or Superiorite. But even the Canadians have learned to love this series.
Gilling said: “For this weekend, we can totally forget we’re in last place, because we’re playing the Gophers.”
East falls in bid for 6th straight 7AA puck title
Hermantown will return to the state Class A hockey tournament next week, with a realistic chance to go one better than last year’s runner-up finish. And Silver Bay will make its first-ever trip to the same Class A tournament, charging in as a wide-eyed darkhorse.
But there will be no Duluth East in the Class AA tournament. And that may take some getting used to. Even a unique all-senior all-star game, to be held in Superior, may not adequately relieve the Greyhound disappointment after they lost in the 7AA semifinals to Elk River on Tuesday night.
Nick Licari, Duluth East’s fabulous freshman, scored two spectacular goals at the DECC against Elk River. The first one gave the Greyhounds a 1-1 tie, while the second was the last flicker of the kind of hope that customarily has been rewarded with success by East.
East trailed Elk River 1-0 in the first period when sophomore Jon Hedberg lagged the puck down ice, and junior Ross Carlson chased it down to narrowly avert icing, then passed quickly to the slot, where Licari’s one-timer beat Elk goaltender Mitch Glines.
Elk River took command with three second-period goals, however, two by John Brummer, who scored with a deadly backhander from the slot, and then, with a forehand wrist shot a minute and a half later. But 5:50 of the third period, Licari broke free of a check to catch a Zach Burns pass and zoomed in to score on the breakaway.
As it turned out, that was East’s last hope. The game ended with a wild scramble, but the puck simply would not cross the goal line with 5.5 seconds to go, and the Greyhounds frustration resulted in a brief scuffle. But East lost, 4-2.
After it was over, the Greyhounds trooped to their dressing room, looking down at the floor, silently, except for a few sniffles and sobs.
“We went down fighting,” said East coach Mike Randolph. When he realized his unintentional reference to the last-second hassle on the ice, he couldn’t resist adding: “Literally.”
t would be Elk River facing Hibbing for the Section 7AA title, and not Duluth East. The defending state champs, East had established superiority in 7AA, which traditionally is the toughest section to win. East had won five consecutive 7AA titles. Five consecutive trips to the state Class AA tournament, and striving for six.
That means that when the Greyhounds last failed to carry 7AA’s colors to the state tournament, current East seniors like forwards Chad Roberg, Mike Marshall, and Nick Serre, and defensemen Mark Anunti, Ryan Michela and Jason Marshall were only in sixth grade. They were playing Peewee hockey, and all they ever knew was that when the season ends, East goes to the state tournament.
It’s been 18 years since any team dominated the way East has. Before that, back when it was Region 7, it was somewhat common. Eveleth went to the first 12 consecutive state tournaments. International Falls went five straight times, from 1962-66. Greenway of Coleraine made five straight trips from 1966-70. And Grand Rapids went to eight straight tournaments from 1974-81. Some of those streaks saw entry through the old Region 3 “back door,” however.
“I don’t know about those,” said Randolph, who once starred at Duluth Cathedral. “I was in the Catholic tournament in those days.”
Assessing this year’s team before the sectional, Randolph said: “We’ve been a team that has needed to get refocused on a regular basis. At the beginning of the year, we had a number of new kids who found out that whether it was a practice, scrimmage or game, they’d better be ready to go. The days they took off really cost ’em.
“We’ve set a standard with this program, and we’re not really into losing. We didn’t expect to lose five games this season.”
Then they lost their sixth game, finishing a strong 18-6. With 13 returning players, the Greyhounds future looks bright. But that didn’t diminish the disappointment of the current seniors. Roberg, the captain, said: “We’ve got to get some ice time. I don’t want to be done with this.”
ALL-STARS PLAY MARCH 9
Fortunately for the top seniors in the Up North area, this year there will be a unique all-star game for senior players on Tuesday, March 9. The top Duluth area players, coached by East’s Randolph and Larry Trachsel, will face the top Iron Range stars, coached by Craig Homola and Bob Pazzelli of Eveleth-Gilbert, which felt the same sting as East, because the defending Class A champion Golden Bears were upset by Duluth Central in the 7A quarterfinals.
The CCM All-Star game, brainchild of Ryan Kern, of Kernz & Ko., an athletic promotion company, will be held at Wessman Arena in Superior,with a skills contest at 6:15 p.m., and the game at 7:30. The game will feature 20-minute periods.
The Lake Superior team will consist of goalies Adam Laaksonen of Cloquet and Greg Buell of Silver Bay; defensemen Anunti and Michela of East, Nathan Greene of Duluth Central, John Rodberg of Denfeld, J. R. Bradley of Hermantown and John Conboy of Silver Bay; forwards are Roberg, Serre and Mike Marshall of East; Jon Francisco and Andy Corran of Hermantown; Kyle Tomaich of Central; Jay Dardis of Proctor; Nic Johnson of Silver Bay and Dennis Lennartson of Cloquet.
The Iron Range team has goaltenders Matt Uhan of Eveleth-Gilbert and Nick Ossefoort of Greenway of Coleraine; defensemen Rico Fatticci and Steve Suihkonen of Hibbing, Beau Geisler and Adam Johnson of Greenway, and Dan Heitzman and Troy Korpi of Eveleth; plus forwards Andy Sacchetti andSteve Denny of Eveleth, Mike Fatticci and O.J. Bottoms of Hibbing, Josh Miskovich of Greenway, Andy Allen and Willie Buffetta of Virginia-Mountian Iron/Buhl, Keith Radtke of Mesabi-East, and Jeff True of Grand Rapids.
About the Author
John Gilbert is a lifetime Minnesotan and career journalist, specializing in cars and sports during and since spending 30 years at the Minneapolis Tribune, now the Star Tribune. More recently, he has continued translating the high-tech world of autos and sharing his passionate insights as a freelance writer/photographer/broadcaster. A member of the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year jury since 1993. John can be heard Monday-Friday from 9-11am on 610 KDAL(www.kdal610.com) on the "John Gilbert Show," and writes a column in the Duluth Reader.
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