| Cougars eliminate Bulldogs 5-2 |
By: Pat Beck
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Posted: Wednesday, February 17, 2010 9:35 am
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St. Peter/Le Sueur-Henderson/Montgomery-Lonsdale senior center Brittany Pell takes a shot on Mankato East/Loyola goalie Melany Anderson. Pell didn’t score on this attempt in the first period, but she did with a similar move in the second period.
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MANKATO — Going into the Section 2A girls hockey playoffs, the Le Sueur-Henderson/St. Peter/Montgomery-Londale Bulldogs were riding high on a five-game winning streak.
But the Bulldogs picked the wrong time to have an off night, and No. 4 seeded Mankato East/Loyola had an on night and eliminated the No. 5 seeded Bulldogs 5-2 in the first round Thursday at All Seasons Arena. It was East’s first playoff win since splitting with Mankato West.
“East played a great game,” Bulldogs head coach Sarah Moe said. “I don’t think we played our worst game, but we didn’t play nearly what we’ve been playing lately.
“The last few days didn’t help with the fact that we weren’t able to practice Monday or Tuesday, but East wasn’t able to practice either. They showed up. We did not have that energy coming out on the ice. I don’t know why because we haven’t had issues with that recently. That’s the first time we have not showed up in a few weeks.”
The Bulldogs, however, showed spurts of good play.
After falling behind 2-0 in the first period, the Bulldogs came back to tie it 2-2 in the second period.
East freshman forward Savannah Quandt, who leads the Cougars with 30 goals and 49 points, opened the scoring with her first of four goals 2:36 into the first period. She stole the puck off a defender’s stick, went in on the net free and shot in a high wrist shot.
The Cougars upped their lead to 2-0 when Quandt scored on a rebound off a shot by forward Rebekah Kolstad at 13:25. Keeping the puck in SPLSHML’s end for most of the first period, the Cougars out shot the Bulldogs 18-4 and 41-12 in the game. SPLSHML goalie Kirsten Shaughnessy made 36 saves.
“Our goaltender didn’t stand on her head, but she played well,” Moe said. “That’s about all we can ask of her. She was aggressive on a couple of pucks. She was solid in the nets for us. She made the saves she needed to save, and unfortunately a number of the goals were on rebounds.”
The Bulldogs tied it 2-2 with two unanswered goals in the second period. Sophomore forward Elle Hammes scored first, her 20th of the season, on a pass up from defender Ali Plieseis at 3:26.
Senior center Brittany Pell tied it 2-2 with an unassisted goal at 8:48. Using her speed, she skated around the defense on the left wing, deked the goalie and scored on a far side. It was Pell’s team-leading 36th goal of the season, which tied her for 10th in the state.
East went right back down the ice and scored the go-ahead goal 36 seconds later and took a 4-2 lead on a similar passing play from behind the net out front. First, Quandt and Kolstad set up forward Maddie McCarger. Then Kolstad set up Quandt.
“We were talking about that all night that that’s what they were doing, but for some reason our coverage was not where it was supposed to be,” Moe said.
The Bulldogs had a man advantage with about 2 minutes left and pulled their goalie for a sixth attacker, making it 6 on 4. But Quandt scored in the open net with 31 seconds left.
“We had our moments,” Moe said. “We just got outplayed. Especially in the first period, we weren’t winning battles to the puck, and that continued a little bit. But moreover, we started throwing the puck away, and that’s stuff that we haven’t been doing, so it’s very frustrating for me to watch our older players do that sort of thing. Teamwise I don’t think there’s anyone who came out and had a stellar game, besides Kirsten.”
SPLSHML 0 2 0—2
Mankato East/Loyola 2 2 1—5
First period — 1. MEL, Savannah Quandt (unassisted), 2:56. 2. MEL, Quandt (Rebekah Kolstad), 13:25.
Second period — 2. SPLSHML, Elle Hammes (Ali Plieseis, Elizabeth Weirs), 3:26. 3. SPLSHML, Brittany Pell (Maggie King), 8:08. 5. MEL, Maddie McCargar (Kolstad, Quandt), 9:24. 6. MEL, Quandt (Kolstad), 9:24.
Third period — 7. MEL, Quandt (Bobbi Sellner), 16:29 (open net).
Saves — SPLSHML Kirsten Shaughnessy 16-13-7—36. MEL, Melany Anderson 4-2-4—10.
Penalties — SPLSHML, 1 for 2 minutes. MEL, 1 for 2 minutes.
Power plays — SPLSHML 0 for 1. ME, 0 for 1. |
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