Finnie finds a home in Windsor
WINDSOR, ONTARIO
The house is different, so is the city, and so is the country, but when Patrick Finnegan answered the doorbell, it all suddenly seemed a lot like Lester Park.
He led a visitor down the hallway, through the kitchen, and down a few carpeted stairs to the family room. The 10 o’clock news was on a big-screen television set, and he was commiserating with a sportscaster about the “national tragedy” of Canada losing the World Junior final to Russia.Finnegan walked over to a refrigerator and produced a couple of bottles of lemonade, and plopped down on the couch.
“I’m having fun,” Finnegan said. “Things are going good, although Jeff Martin is out with a shoulder injury and Jason Ward just got back from the World Junior team.”
Martin? Ward? Those aren’t the names of Duluth East Greyhounds, the guys who would be Finnegan’s teammates if he had stayed for his senior year. They are names of prominent members of the Windsor Spitfires, a team in the highly regarded “OHL,” or Ontario Hockey League — the Tier 1, Major Junior outfit that prepares young hockey players for the transition from youth hockey to hoped-for draft positions and pro hockey futures.
Training camp in August, a season that runs as long as the NHL, with 68 games, played three a week, usually Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. That helps players attend high school. Finnegan goes to Herman High School in Windsor. But it’s a different world from Minnesota, and from high school hockey.
There are those critics who thought Finnegan made a mistake leaving East, where, as a swashbuckling, puck-carrying gambler on defense, he would have been a front-runner for Mr. Hockey, and responsible for leading East back to defend the state championship he helped the ‘Hounds win last year.
There was an assumption that Finnegan might suffer by being thrust into the intense, physical world of “Junior A” hockey, that he might be hopelessly homesick by leaving his family and friends, that he might get beaten up and play ineffectively.
As it turns out, the answer is none of the above.
“It was tough to leave home, and I didn’t get home from Aug. 15 until a week at Christmas time,” said Finnegan. ” People up here don’t understand what high school hockey is like. I go by East High School, and playing there, the coaches and the friendships are something I’ll never forget. I know the guys back at East will do good and be successful.
“But for me, when I was leaving to come to training camp, I knew this was the league for development for me.”
Michael and Debbie Paulin have a 17-year-old son of their own, Jay, who operates an internet web site for the Spitfires. They also have Ron Vogel, 19, a third-year goaltender with the club, living at their home, so adding Finnegan, who turned 18 in August, offered no surprises. The Windsor team pays the family for expenses for housing players.
“Finney is a little wild and crazy sometimes,” laughed Michael Paulin. “He came home today and you could smell the perfume on him a mile away. “He’s been great. Except that he always keeps everybody waiting. Guys are always beeping their horn waiting for him.”
Jay Paulin gets a laugh out of Finnegan too. “He’s always going around singing or saying funny lines from movies or TV shows, and he’s usually way off,” said Jay. “And he’s always late, all right. He waits till the last minute, then a little more.”
So much for being homesick.
As for his play, playing before 2,500 on the undersized rink at home is fun, but he also has enjoyed playing at the new, 5,000-seat sold-out arena in Sarnia, or in Ottawa, or in Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. Cloquet, Hibbing and Greenway have been replaced as rivals by Barrie, the Peterboro Petes, and the Mississauga Ice Dogs.
He also has readily adopted the junior hockey focal point of ticking off the names of recent junior players who have made “the show,” including Jamie Langenbrunner, who went from Cloquet to Peterboro and to the Dallas Stars.
“I felt comfortable right away in training camp, although I had the feeling some guys weren’t going all out,” he said. “Then the regular season started, and it was completely the opposite — run-and-gun, and finish your checks. It’s tough, and there’s some fights. It seems like every team has guys who take care of that stuff, and you learn that a guy can really give his team a mental boost by doing well in a fight.
“I haven’t had any fights yet. Just in practice. I thought I was going to have one last game when I nailed a guy into the post. He came after me, but before I could fight him Tim Sinsasac, one of my teammates, stepped in. My defense partner is John Cilladi, from Erie, Pa., and he’s 6-4 and 230. He takes care of me, too. I guess because we don’t score much, and they figure I can help our offense, they’d rather have me not be in the box.”
Finnegan had four goals, 18 assists for 22 points through the first 37 games. The Spitfires had won only 10 of those, and coach Tony Curtale was “allowed” to resign and turn coaching duties over to Dave Perpich. Finnegan was surprised, and said he learned a lot from Curtale, a rare American in Canadian junior coaching ranks.
“Eight teams from each conference make the playoffs, and we’re eighth in the Western Conference,” said Finnegan. “I guess the owners thought we under-achieved.”
Vogel, the goaltender, is from London, Ontario and said this is his fifth coach in three seasons at Windsor. He also said that while Finnegan may have felt uneasy at first, he quickly fit in. “He fit in very good,” said Vogel. “You’ve got to realize that he is a first-year player in this league, and he’s paired on the first defense unit, and plays on the power play. He’s definitely our most poised with the puck.”
It took awhile, Finnegan said. “Coach [Larry] Trachsel helped me learn a lot about defense or I’d have been completely lost when I came up here,” said Finnegan. “I’ve had to try to fit my offensive play into this league, where the ice doesn’t open up as much. I still like to pinch in from the points more than the other guys, but I think I’m entitled to do something to get things going. I want to be a go-to guy, and last game I pinched in and intercepted a pass and set up a goal.
“You watch high school and college hockey, and forwards can fly out of the zone and the ‘D’ have to go with ’em. I got used to throwing long bomb passes, so I had to adjust to remember to get to the blue line before passing so I wouldn’t make two-line passes.”
He said he hasn’t noticed any harsh treatment because he’s not Canadian. There are three U.S. players on the team, and he said the only hassles he’s had are from rookie duty, like loading the equipment on buses, picking up pucks, filling the water bottles. But you can tell, he enjoys even being the target of practical jokes.
“We’ve really got a great group of guys, and it’s really fun to be together on the bus trips,” Finnegan said, and he laughed about coming home covered with perfume. “We’ve got some team jokers, and they dumped cheap cologne on me, all over my jacket. I’m a rookie, and the rookies get it all year. In training camp, I came out of the shower and grabbed a white towel and didn’t somebody had put shaving cream all over it.”
It was after midnight when Finnegan walked his visitor to the door. He had a game the next night, and school all day before it. The wintry blast outside made a Duluthian feel very much at home. Back at the house, Finney stood at the opened doorway in his stocking feet. Canadian major junior hockey only makes sense for a few, but Finney has found a home.
Hastings hits stride at East’s expense
At the start of the season, many high school hockey observers assumed Hastings would be the best team in the state. The Raiders, with Dan Welch, Jeff Taffe and defenseman Ben Tharp all returning from a team that went to the state tournament and lost only 5-4 to Duluth East, had added a couple of transfers and lost very little.
But while Hill-Murray, Elk River, Roseville and Duluth East were the surprises of the season, Hastings sputtered and misfired.
Hill-Murray surprised many with an outstanding team that is still undefeated and still ranked No. 1 in the Up North state ratings. Elk River surprised everybody by starting off at a sizzling clip, and still has lost only one game. Roseville came from out of nowhere to put together an extremely impressive season. Duluth East surprised some by losing defenseman Pat Finnegan to Canadian junior but still coming off a 2-2 start (with the losses to Elk River and Hill-Murray) to reaffirm its place among the top state teams.
But Hastings came to Duluth and was socked, about 7-3, in a scrimmage against East. The Raiders then went up to the Iron Range and struggled in a 4-4 tie against Greenway’s Raiders in another scrimmage. The season began, and Hastings seemed to be caught up reading its rave reviews more than focusing on teamwork. Eagan upset Hastings, then Roseville beat Hastings in a holiday tournament, setting up another loss to Eagan in the third-place game. Then, a loss to a good Eden Prairie team.
But with Welch, Taffe and Tharp already committed to University of Minnesota hockey scholarships, and Taffe apparently assured of a first-round draft slot if he chooses to opt-in for the NHL draft, it was perplexing.
“Mentally, it took a lot to get our heads into it,” said coach Russ Welch. “We didn’t play as a team, and our hearts just weren’t there.”
If it took something special to awaken Hastings, that something special appeared to be a game at the DECC against Duluth East last Saturday afternoon. The Greyhounds came out and got a 2-0 lead on goals by Ross Carlson and Mike Marshall in the first half of the first period.
At that point, it appeared East may have decided it wouldn’t be so tough, after all, at the same moment that the Raiders decided to snap into focus. Whatever, Dan Welch scored before the first period ended, on a slick feed from Taffe. Nick Husting’s shorthanded goal, one by Bobby Miller and another by Travis Kieffer, all in the second period, put Hastings in the lead at 4-2, and Welch and Pete Swanson boosted it to 6-2 before freshman Nick Licaro got a late goal for East.
The 6-3 victory was, for Hastings, a high-water mark. “This is the best game we’ve played all year,” said Russ Welch, Dan’s dad. “This is the first game where all three lines got going.”
It’s uncertain if Hastings can maintain that level of play, but it is virtually certain the Raiders will reach the state tournament. “Our biggest threats in the section will be Park of Cottage Grove, and St. Paul Johnson. But our biggest challenge is our own locker room.”
East coach Mike Randolph said: “I don’t know who could have beaten ’em today. I got caught watching ’em, too. We know they’re an excellent hockey team, but we haven’t gotten our rer ends kicked like that in the DECC since I’ve been here.”
After winning 10 consecutive games, Randolph also is aware that a loss, at the right time, can be a great learning tool. The ‘Hounds will need to get it back together this week, because they had to bounce right back and go to Hibbing for a Tuesday night date.
Hibbing and Greenway handled Duluth-area foes last week — Hibbing beating Denfeld 7-1 while Greenway stunned Cloquet 7-0 — then they went to Rochester last weekend. Both teams had an apparent case of bus-legs on Friday night, when Hibbing survived to beat John Marshall 5-4 in overtime and Greenway was ambushed 6-2 by Mayo. Both bounced back Saturday, Hibbing stopping a considerably stronger Mayo team, again in overtime, while Greenway whipped JM 5-1.
“We were not really sharp on Friday,” said Hibbing coach Mark DeCenzo. “I was disappointed we weren’t mentally into it the first night. JM worked hard and had us down 4-2 in the third period, until we pulled the goalie with 1:19 to go. Jesse Jagonich scored with 0:59 left, Rico Fatticci scored with 11 seconds left to tie it, and Mike Fatticci won it when he scored off a faceoff with 30-some seconds to go in overtime.
“We played much better the next night, and were leading Mayo 2-0 in the third period until they got two to tie us. Mike Fatticci got the overtime winner again for us, scoring on a rush this time.”
The result lifts Hibbing to No. 2 in the Up North regional ratings, behind East, which parlayed a 9-2 victory over Superior and a 10-1 whipping of Proctor earlier last week to offset the loss to Hastings and cling to the No. 1 slot. The Hounds did drop from No. 2 to No. 5 statewide, where Hibbing is No. 6, Greenway No. 9 and Eveleth No. 10.
Those four rank 1-4 in the region, where games from here on add the impact of seeding procedures. With Eveleth in Class 7A, Section 7AA could be the toughest in the state, with four of the state’s top 10, as Elk River joins East, Hibbing and Greenway. Look ahead to next week, incidentally, when Greenway and Hibbing collide on Tuesday night.
In girls action, Hibbing proved its intentions for the second half by tying the Duluth Dynamite 2-2 in the DECC last week. The Dynamite beat Bemidji in another key Up North match, which kept them at No. 7 in the state ratings. The top six remain constant, as Park Center and Roseville continue to roll along and Eagan got past a new archrival in Rosemount in a 2-1 thriller last week. Freshman Natalie Darwitz scored one and set up the other in that game. Becky Stewart, who scored a whopping number of goals on Darwitz’s line last year, transfered to Rosemount for this season. South St. Paul, Bloomington Jefferson and No. 6 Rosemount are all battling for prominence as sectional playoffs approach.
UP NORTH HOCKEY RATINGS
Boys
STATE
1. Hill-Murray, 14-0
2. Roseville, 11-2
3. Elk River, 12-1
4. Roseau, 13-1
5. Duluth East, 12-3
6. Hibbing, 10-3
7. Hastings, 10-4
8. Eagan, 12-1
9. Greenway of Coleraine, 10-4
10. Eveleth, 13-2
REGION
1. Duluth East, 12-3
2. Hibbing, 10-3
3. Eveleth, 13-2
4. Greenway of Coleraine, 10-4
5. Duluth Marshall, 9-4-1
6. Silver Bay, 10-3-1
7. Hermantown, 10-3-1
8. Hayward (Wis.), 9-1
9. Proctor, 7-7
10. Cloquet-Esko-Carlton, 7-7
GIRLS STATE
1. Park Center, 17-0
2. Roseville, 16-0-1
3. Eagan, 16-1
4. South St. Paul, 16-1
5. Bloomington Jefferson, 12-4-1
6. Rosemount, 13-3
7. Duluth Dynamite, 14-3-1
8. Burnsville, 12-3-2
9. Bemidji, 12-6-1
10. Hibbing, 8-9-2
Vikings go down, leaving question marks
All that mattered, ultimately, was what went on inside the Metrodome when the Atlanta Falcons rallied heroically to end the Vikings season in a 30-27 overtime thriller for the NFC’s berth in the Super Bowl.
A couple of lingering points may be bothersome whenever the game is reviewed. The coaching job done by Dennis Green has been outstanding all season, but Atlanta’s Dan Reeves outfoxed the Vikings on Sunday.
To me, it is a sad commentary that artificial and amplified noise is pumped into the Metrodome in an attempt to prevent the visiting team from functioning normally. Reeves, anticipating the deafening noise, put in an entirely new system of calling the plays in the huddle, then having the center signal the snap, eliminating the need for signals to be heard.
“We had the center making a certain move so the linemen had the chance to look in and know the snap was coming without having to worry about the crowd,” said Reeves. “It was incredible, but after having six or seven illegal procedure penalties in the last few games, we had not one in this game.”
When it came to critical decisions, Green, on the other hand, defended the Vikings decisions to go “by the book” on two situations, one at the end of the first half, the other at the end of regulation. Leading 20-7 with 1:17 to go to halftime, quarterback Randall Cunningham was turned loose to pad the lead, which was typical of the Vikings, Green said. After two incompletions, Cunningham fumbled on third down while trying to pass again. Atlanta recovered on the 14, and Chris Chandler threw a touchdown strike to Terance Mathis on the next play, with 0:56 left.
Still, I don’t argue with the Vikings mindset, to try to put the game away. That, however, precludes any chance of agreeing with the decision at the end of the fourth quarter. Right after another Chandler-to-Mathis touchdown had tied the game 27-all, the Vikings had the ball with 49 seconds left. Cunningham scrambled for seven yards on first down. On second down, he forced a bomb for Randy Moss, incomplete. It was third and three from their 27, but with 30 seconds remaining, with two timeouts still in the bank.
In the press box, I tried to anticipate what they’d try. Because I think Cunningham tries to force passes to Moss too often, and the defense would be certain to cover him deep, I know what I’d do — throw two or three sideline passes, preferably to Cris Carter, maybe one to a back drifting out of the backfield, and have plenty of time for Gary Anderson to win the game with a medium-length field goal. If he had to try from long distance, it would still be a worthy try.
Instead, Cunningham was ordered to drop down to his knee and let time expire.
“We were down to 30 seconds, so we wanted to take two good downs, and when we didn’t get the first down, we decided not to try any more,” said Green. “There were a lot of things that could have not worked in our favor.”
A lot of things? Like a fumble or an interception? That’s almost like a hockey coach refusing to pull his goaltender in favor of settling for a one-goal loss.
“The odds weren’t in our favor,” said offensive coordinator Brian Billick. “We thought we’d rather take our chances on the coin toss for overtime.”
Let’s see, now. The Vikings braintrust decided that it would rather trust this marvelous season to a coin-flip instead of having the ball with 30 seconds left? They should have suggested deciding the NFC trophy on a coin-flip; Atlanta probably would have gone for it.
These are the Vikings who set an NFL record with 556 points this season, the Vikings who had the No. 1 rated quarterback in Cunningham, the Vikings who had the No. 1 scoring threat in Randy Moss, and the Vikings who had the best placekicker in the NFL — who would have given anything to atone for his only miss of the season, a few minutes earlier. And their choice was to capitulate?
Thirty seconds isn’t much, but it can last several minutes when an astute offense combines sideline plays and timeouts. And the Vikings have the most astute offense. They had driven to seven of their 56 touchdowns on drives that lasted less than 30 seconds. If you gave Atlanta the ball in the same circumstance, do you think the Falcons would have hesitated to go for it all?
Reeves, you recall, went for a first down on a fourth-down try with six minutes left and the Vikings leading 27-20. The Falcons failed, but destiny would reward Reeves later for the boldness of going for it.
As it turns out, the Vikings won the toss in overtime, which Green said proved the merit of their decision. But during two possessions, Cunningham was erratic, completing his first pass of overtime, then going 1-for-6. Cunningham, curiously, had badly underthrown the speedy Moss several times during the game, but he missed various receivers in the fourth quarter and overtime by a proverbial mile. Or two.
They went down together, though. Cunningham may have seized up with the game on the line, but the coaching decisions under pressure were equally botched.
Cunningham had a strong game — 29 of 48 pass completions. Late in the third quarter and overlapping to the fourth, on what turned out to be the Vikings final scoring drive, Cunningham was 7-for-11 passing, for 25-for-37 to that point. From then on, he was 4-for-11, was sacked twice and fumbled twice.
Similarly, on their first four possessions of the game, the Vikings went: touchdown-field goal-touchdown-field goal. Their next four drives concluded with: a lost Cunningham fumble, halftime, punt, and touchdown. Faltering, but still not bad, with 27 points on the board. Then, with the pressure rising, Vikings possessions ended: punt, Cunningham fumble, missed field goal, and letting the clock expire(!). In overtime, it was: punt-punt.
And wait till next year.
Bulldogs finally win at home — and lose ground
The good news was that UMD’s hockey Bulldogs won their first home WCHA game of the season by beating Denver 4-3 on Friday, which made the split, after losing 4-2 on Saturday, seem a little easier to take.
The bad news was that despite the split, the ninth-place Bulldogs (3-11-2) lost ground to eighth-place Michigan Tech. The Huskies, victimized twice by the Bulldogs in a series at Houghton earlier, swept St. Cloud State for the second time this season. So not only is Tech no longer in eighth place, but now is battling with Denver, Alaska-Anchorage and Wisconsin for third place in the WCHA.
On the other hand, the silver lining there is that St. Cloud State is now only four points ahead of UMD, and is also the next Bulldog opponent in a home-and-home series this weekend, with the Friday game at the DECC. The flip side there, however, is that St. Cloud State swept a similar series from UMD earlier.
UMD was not helped Saturday when Derek Derow missed the game with a flu-like infection, and Tommy Nelson — who scored his first collegiate goal on Friday — left midway through the game Saturday with a possible concussion.
The Bulldogs didn’t help themselves in the third period Saturday, when the game was on the line, and Denver capitalized for two goals and the victory.
“As coaches, you can analyze things like this until you go insane,” said Sertich. “You can work on things to correct them on the ice, but when you make bad decisions, it’s tough. We got down 2-0, then came back to make it 2-2 going into the third period. At that point, it’s up to the players to decide the game. And they did.”
Denver’s Paul Comrie impressed everyone at the DECC with his strong weekend. He scored two goals Friday and set up two on Saturday, and he mesmerized the Bulldogs with his puck-handling.
After Comrie scored two goals in UMD’s 4-3 first-game victory, Sertich said: “I’d say he and Brian Swanson of Colorado College are the best two players in the league.”
On Saturday, Comrie’s line had three of the Denver goals. “Personally, I’d say Comrie is the best player in the league,” said UMD captain Bert Gilling. “I got a chance to play with him last summer, and I’ve got the utmost respect for him. He’s got speed, agility, great hands and great imagination. And he’s a competitor too; when he gets agitated, he just turns his game up a notch.”
With 3,991 fans at the DECC Saturday night, Comrie set up the first of two goals by Mark Rycroft to open the game, and he made a big play to set up James Patterson’s clinching goal, when it was 3-2 midway through the third period.
“I thought Comrie had a lot more support tonight,” said DU coach George Gwozdecky. “Rycroft and Patterson played much better tonight. Last night, Paul was all alone.”
As big a factor as their offense was, the Pioneer penalty killers shared the spotlight, because Denver was almost equally adept at taking penalties and killing them. But they shackled the Bulldogs to 1-for-9 on the power play while Denver was 0-for-2.
The first period was the reversal of Friday’s 4-3 UMD victory, when UMD took a quick 2-0 lead, only to have Denver cut it to 2-1 and later tie it 2-2. This time, it was the Pioneers who jumped off to a 2-0 lead, and the Bulldogs who cut it to 2-1 before the first period ended.
UMD goalie Brant Nicklin made 39 saves as Denver outshot the Bulldogs 43-29, but Nickli.n couldn’t hold off the Pioneers indefinitely. After 11:28 had elapsed in the first period, Rycroft scored at the crease when Joe Ritson and Comrie collaborated to lure Nicklin to the right side and isolate Rycroft.
DU defenseman Erik Adams fired a 30-footer past Nicklin for the 2-0 lead, but 52 seconds later, UMD got back in the game when Ryan Homstol picked off the puck and shot immediately into the short side on Stephen Wagner from the right.
That aroused the Bulldogs, who got a 2-2 tie at 4:25 of the second period when freshman defenseman Mark Carlson strolled in from the left point and shot through a screen of bodies on a UMD power play. UMD had a 2-man power play for a 1:23 span later in the middle period, but Wagner and the penalty killers avoided danger. “Right there, if we could have scored we could have changed the momentum,” said Sertich.
Instead, it stayed 2-2 until Rycroft broke the tie at 3:08 of the third period with his second goal of the night when he slipped behind the defense to the far blue line to catch a 100-foot pass, skate in on the left side and beat Nicklin low to the far side.
Comrie came up with his coup de gras play at 8:12. when UMD defenseman Jesse Fibiger got possession behind his own net, but as he whirled to escape, Comrie was coming from the other direction and swatted the puck right off his stickblade and onto the blade of Patterson, out front. The play happened so suddenly, that Nicklin was completely relaxed, unaware that Patterson had the puck. As Patterson teed it up, Nicklin tried to recover, but too late, and the senior from Wayne, Mich., had his 16th goal of the season.
Duluth girls win tourney opener, 5-2
ST. PAUL, MINN.—
The Duluth Dynamite overcame first-game, first-tournament jitters Thursday night, and skated to a 5-2 victory over Mankato East/West at the State Fair Coliseum.
Leah Wrazidlo scored two goals for the Dynamite (21-4-1) who advance to tonight’s semifinals against the winner of the final opening-day round between Roseville and Burnsville.
The game kicked off the first day’s evening session, after the tournament opened with a record single-session girls tournament crowd of 4,462 watching South St. Paul upend No. 1 and previously undefeated Park Center in a 3-2 thriller. Park Center star Krissy Wendell scored two goals — the 101st and 102nd of her junior season — but both came after South St. Paul had built a 3-0 lead, and the more team-oriented Packers stormed into tonight’s first semifinal against Bloomington Jefferson, which broke a 3-3 tie on Emily Naslund’s second goal of the game to beat stubborn Mounds View 4-3.
Duluth, playing for the first time in the five-year old tournament, had some jittery players before the game, but seemed to conquer those nerves with a three-goal first period. After building the 3-0 lead, however, the Dynamite seemed to sag, and Mankato battled back with a pair of second-period goals to cut the lead to 3-2.
“I think we got the 3-0 lead and then turned complacent,” said Duluth coach Jack Shearer. “We do that, we’re so doggone up and down. We are consistent about being inconsistent. But the big thing was, we came here and we wanted to win the first game to stay on the championship side of the tournament, and we did that.”
Wrazidlo whistled in the first goal by deflecting a Rose Babst shot from center point at 4:13 of the first period.
Tresa Lamphier scored barely a minute later on a high flip from just across the blue line on the right boards. Mankato goaltender Nitara Frost, who made 29 stops as her team was outshot 34-11 for the game, had trouble playing the high flip, which bounced at her feet and short-hopped between her pads at 5:17.
“That one was kind of cheesey,” said Lamphier, who now has 45 goals for the season. Asked if she and her teammates felt a little jittery, Lamphier said: “Not a little; a LOT.”
Rachel Goodwin skated in to score with a loose puck in the slot at 9:59 for the 3-0 Duluth lead, and a 14-3 edge in shots for the session.
But Amy Egli scored at 3:13 of the second for Mankato (17-7-1), and Nicole Hottinger converted a broken play at 8:16 with a quick shot that beat goaltender Sanya Sandahl, and suddenly it was 3-2.
The Dynamite turned up the pressure then, with Meghen Stotts scoring on a rebound at 12:50 for breathing room at 4-2. With 1:38 remaining, Wrazidlo angled across the slot and scored with a power-play backhand to complete the scoring. Unlike her teammates, Wrazidlo said she wasn’t nervous at the start.
“I wasn’t nervous at all, until after my first shift, then it hit me,” said the senior from Denfeld. “The first goal was nice, because it got us going. But their first goal went off my right skate, right to their other girl, who scored.
“We definitely let up when it was 3-0. We’ve done that all too often, and we know we can’t do that in the semifinals if we hope to win.”
SOUTH ST. PAUL 3,
PARK CENTER 2
After eliminating Eagan and star Natalie Darwitz 1-0 in the section final, South St. Paul (25-1)played giant-killer again against Wendell, who scored with two seconds left in the second period, and again on a 15-foot missile 2:03 into the third.
“We knew we had the firepower, but they shut us down,” said Wendell. “They had a great defensive team. Offensively, I didn’t think they had that much firepower, but they sure did today. They won every loose puck, and they just outplayed us.”
With Wendell’s 100 goals triggering a 25-0 season, the challenge was obvious for South St. Paul, with the balance of senior Sarah Ahlquist in goal, freshman Ashley Albrecht on defense and fifth-year senior center Kelly Kegley as architect of the Packer offense.
Albrecht moved in from left point and scored with a high slapshot over the glove of goalie Amy Jones and into the right corner at 2:36 of the first period. Kegley, who had played heads-up against Darwitz and faced Wendell after she moved up from defense to play center in the third period, came through with exceptional plays on the other two goals, both scored by Erika Hockinson. Twice, after being knocked flat, Kegley managed to sweep passes to Hockinson, who scored in the last minute of the first period and at 9:02 of the second.
“We’ve kind of been underdogs all year, so that might help us,” said Kegley. “We knew they had a great team, but we also knew they hadn’t played as strong a schedule as we had.”
It became immediately obvious that Park Center’s chances hinged on Wendell’s determination to make one-player attacks from end to end. Packers coach Dave Palmquist anticipated Wendell would try to keep the puck, and flawlessly prepared his defense to force her to the inside and then clutter the slot to keep her from the net. That strategy kept Park Center from getting a single shot through to Alquist for the first 12 minutes, and the Pirates, who had only trailed Duluth and Jefferson all season, and then only by one goal and only for a short duration, wound up trailing 3-0, and against the best foe they’ve faced all season.
“We had scrimmaged South St. Paul early, and Krissy scored eight or nine goals, and we won eight or nine to nothing,” said Park Center coach John Donovan. “But we may have caught them by surprise. Today, their defense didn’t give us anything in the middle. And when Krissy was rushing from defense, their backcheckers had time to stay with her. So I moved her up to center in the third period, and I think it worked to allow her to get away from the backcheckers.”
It worked, but only to a point. “By the end of the second period, all I said to the team was, ‘Don’t let 15 [Wendell’s number] beat us.’ After facing Darwitz and Wendell back to back, we’ve seen it all. Now we can just focus on playing our game.”
JEFFERSON 4,
MOUNDS VIEW 3
Jefferson (21-4-1) had to overcome some flu and mono that had knocked several players either out of the lineup or to reduced roles throughout the Section 6 tournament. Once on the Coliseum rink, though, the Jaguars got an opening goal from junior defenseman Bethany Petersen, who had missed all but one period of the last three games with illness.
But underdog Mounds View (15-10-1) came back strong when Lindsey Ogren scored midway through the opening period and Jenny Lovelle converted a set-up from Diane Carigiet in the last minute of the first period, for a 2-1 lead.
Naslund scored on a rush after a pass from Petersen midweay through the second period to lift the Jaguars to a 2-2 tie, and eighth-grader Natalie Turgeon scored on a rebound to give Jefferson a 3-2 edge in the last minute of the second period. Lisa Sullivan got the 3-3 tie for Mounds View on a rebound at 5:45 of the third, but Naslund knocked in a loose puck at the crease after Petersen’s wraparound had been stopped at 7:53. That one proved to be the eventual game-winner.
“I’ve got about six or seven goals for the season,” said Naslund, last fall’s state cross-country champion. “These two definitely were the biggest.”
To say nothing of the most timely.
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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