Girls Hockey Enjoys Great Win vs. Burnsville
Senior Lexi Kocken skates along the boards.
The Apple Valley girls hockey team played a great game against Burnsville on Tuesday, coming out on top in a solid 4-1 win.
In spite of their victory, the girls struggled in the first period. The team let up a power play goal in the first five minutes of the period, and weren’t able to create much on the offensive end. Down 1-0 after the first period, coach Don Erdall knew that his team wasn’t playing up to their full potential and encouraged them to pick it up coming into the next period.
“We knew we weren’t playing our game, and I put it in front of them; it wasn’t a challenge, it wasn’t a light up, they knew what needed to be done,” said Erdall.
Senior captain Amy Breckner ready for the faceoff.
A power play goal by junior captain Sophia Leong got the offense going for the Eagles in the middle of the second period. From that point on, the Eagles played fantastic defense and created lots of chances for themselves on offense.
“We had a dip in the first period, but we really came together at the intermission and we came in hard in the second and that really helped us,” said Leong.
The Eagles came back in the third period with the same intensity they had in the second. Junior Kealey Jensen netted the go-ahead power play goal with nine minutes to go in the game. Junior Reagan Roelofs scored two minutes later to give the Eagles a 3-1 lead.
To cap off the game was a top-shelf snipe by junior Mikayla DeForrest with a minute left in the game.
Junior Krista Martinson went down in the third period with an apparent arm injury after colliding with an opposing player and the boards. She would not return to the game.
“We’re going to check and see how she’s doing,” said Erdall. “Hopefully she’s ok; she’s someone we need to have healthy to be successful, so we’re hoping the best for her.”
Junior Reagan Roelofs takes a shot at the net.
The girls will look to continue their strong start to the season on Thursday in a section quarterfinals rematch against East Ridge. The last time these two teams played, the game went on for six overtime periods and senior goalie Taylor DeForrest had 111 saves in the game.
That game will be at 7 pm at home. Come out and cheer for them as they try to start off 3-0 for the season.
