| Bulldogs’ season turns out better than expected |
By: Pat Beck
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Posted: Wednesday, February 17, 2010 9:37 am
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St. Peter/Le Sueur-Henderson/Montgomery-Lonsdale junior goalie Kirsten Shaughnessy faced more than 800 shots on goal this season and she saved 90 percent of them.
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In the beginning, it looked like this would a long, tough season for the St. Peter/Le Sueur-Henderson/Montgomery-Lonsdale Bulldogs girls hockey team.
Defense was a big question mark for the Bulldogs at the start of this season with the loss of the two defenders, Sidney Johnson and Becca Studer. And offense wasn’t sure with top scorer Rebecca Anderson gone and only one full forward line returning, senior Brittany Pell centering senior Erin Seaver and sophomore Libby McCoy.
But, in a good move, senior Maggie King moved back from forward to defense, and eighth-grader Chloe Bachman became a regular on the blueline in her first season on the high school team.
An even bigger surprise was sophomore Elle Hammes, who moved up from defense to forward and finished second in the team with 20 goals.
“I was really concerned going into this year,” head coach Sarah Moe said. “We had players like Elle Hammes, who was our sixth defenseman last year and is our second leading scorer this year as a forward. Then we had Maggie King last year who was a forward play defense and was one of the best, if our best, defensemen this year. We needed someone to go back to D.
“I can’t discount any team, because we can have players who you put them in a different role, they accept it and can roll with it.”
The Bulldogs (11-10-2) still struggled in the first two-thirds of the season before getting it together for stronger regular-season finish, including shutting out longtime South Central Conference champion New Ulm 4-0 and tying the Eagles for the title this year.
“We had a really great time the past five weeks or so,” Moe said. “We’ve really come together and being real with each other and it’s been showing in our play. New Ulm was a definite highlight, probably of my coaching career. That was really exciting.
“Overall, I’m very pleased with the season. We really did not have that much drama and when we did we got it taken care of and we didn’t let it affect us long term.”
Moe said the Bulldogs improved because of “confidence and the ability to show up. The last six, seven games we showed up and were ready to play and focused on hockey. But these girls can’t be half into it and half not. They’ve got to be ready totally.”
Again next season the Bulldogs will have question marks with the loss of leading scorer Brittany Pell (36 goals, 9 assists), co-captain Erin Seaver (10 goals, 16 assists) and defensive sisters Maggie King (3 goals, 20 assists) and Molly King (1 goal, 7 assists).
But the Bulldogs will have no problem filling the goalie position with a strong netminder. Kirsten Shaughnessy, who ranked fifth in the state with 750 saves, will return for her fifth and final varsity season between the pipes.
The Bulldogs also have a pair of steady, experienced rushing defenders returning in freshman Ali Plieseis (6 goals, 6 assists) and sophomore Victoria Sinell (4 goals, 9 assists).
The top scoring forwards returning are Hammes (20 goals, 6 assists), McCoy (7 goals, 14 assists), junior Elizabeth Weiers (5 goals, 6 assists) and eighth-grader Chelsea Kaelberer (4 goals, 7 assists).
And, as usual, there are always players who step up and play surprisingly well.
The cycle continues . . .
Pat Beck can be reached at pbeck@stpeterherald.com or (507) 931-8566. |
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