Section Semifinals: February 13th, 2014 vs Benilde St. Margaret’s

We had not yet faced the Red Knights this season, and although we knew BSM was rated as the favorite, we were hoping to spring a surprise attack on them. This familiar foe was out for revenge after we had beaten them the previous two years in the section finals to win the tournament.

Walking into the rink this time was much different, I was still nervous, but felt confident in my playing abilities. Warm-ups were my best yet, I was reacting to every shot and smothering the rebounds. Nothing was going to stop me tonight.

As the time ticked down to the puck drop, I felt the pressure start building up. I knew I had to be on my game tonight since I would be facing the best shots I have seen all year and if I let one in the game would be basically over. I also recognized that I couldn’t be thinking like that because that’s when I play worse. I needed to stop thinking and just trust myself that I have had all the correct training up to this point. I needed to have fun again.

That is exactly what I did. As soon as the puck dropped I was bombarded with shots, but I was doing everything I could to keep the puck out of the net. By the end of the period, the score remained tied at 0-0, but the Red Knights showed a decisive advantage in shots 12-3. Although the difference in shots made it seem like we were playing bad; it was the complete opposite. This was our best game yet, we had finally figured out how to turn that question into a yes. Everyone was giving an all-out effort.

 

When we were in the locker room in between periods, EJ said that he could not have been more proud of our efforts so far tonight and that all of our hard work we put in this year definitely shows. He also pulled me aside and told me that I was “standing on my head tonight” and the only reason we are still in this game was because of me. All I could do was smile at him. I was so happy and confident about my performance so far and knew I had to keep it up.

The intensity resumed as we returned to the ice for the second 17 minutes. Unfortunately BSM’s Caitlyn Reilly finally broke the deadlock at 11:21, sneaking behind our defense by the Red Knights’ bench for a pass from Ali Praus. Reilly went down on a breakaway on me and snuck it right past my blocker short side. “Ughhhh how could my defense give up a breakaway,” is all I could think. I was trying to blame others for the goal so I could let it go myself and continue to focus on the rest of the game. I needed to continue just playing my game.

The rest of this period was very back and forth. We had many chances but couldn’t burry one away. At the end of the 17 minutes we gained the advantage in shots 9-7.

 

In between periods our coaches said they couldn’t have asked for a better game so far. EJ’s only comment was “this game is not over. Whoever wants this more will come out on top.”

Before the start of the third period when we were all gathered around the bench, Sydney gave one last speech. “We have worked all year for this game, let’s go out there and show everyone why we deserve this.”

Unfortunately the third period did not start out as well as we thought. BSM returned to the power play almost immediately after taking the ice. Kelly Pannek put BSM ahead by two goals at 1:35, finishing a pass from Caitlyn Reilly.

The words “it’s all over” kept repeating in my head.

Although this goal hurt we redoubled our efforts, and reminded ourselves of the two-goal deficit we faced in last season’s section final. And soon enough we finally snuck one through their goalie. Rylie McDonell scored at 4:13 from a pass from Diana Draayer out of the corner in the Benilde end. The momentum shifted toward us again. We had life again.

 

This game was not over yet though, the contest intensified when Catilyn Reilly picked up her second goal of the game with assists to usual suspect Kelly Pannek, and Brittany Wheeler. With just under five minutes remaining in regulation, BSM had once again extended their lead to two goals.

As soon as they gained their two goal lead again, I began to doubt my team one again. It took us so long to score the first time, I didn’t know if we could do it two more times.

However, we battled back again, with a goal from Presley Norby in the following minute, on an assist from Sydney Baldwin. The time ticking down, and we were still trailing 3-2, so EJ pulled me for an extra skater with one minute left in the game. My heart was beating so fast every shot we took because I wanted it to go in so badly and earlier in the season we had been very successful with six players. We had so many chances, but couldn’t seem to find the back of the net for the third time tonight. With seconds left, BSM scored an empty netter to seal their fate.

This ended our season. It was finally over. After all these years playing for Minnetonka, I would never put this jersey on again. I broke down in tears. I would do anything to play my senior year over again. I couldn’t have asked for a better team. We finished with a 19-6-2 record. Even though it was sad we lost, I could not have asked for a better last game. It was the most intense game I had ever played in. Our coaches and team could not be happier about the way we played though. We never stopped battling the whole game and we finally accomplished a side goal of doing everything in that game to try and accomplish our main goal. All the answers from Sydney’s speech switched to a yes.

 

Section Quarterfinals: February 8th, 2014 vs Robbinsdale Armstrong/Cooper

               This was a familiar post-season venue for our team since the past three years we have always faced Robbinsdale Armstrong/Cooper (RAC) Falcons in the quarterfinal game of section 6AA at Parade Ice Garden.

               When our team arrived at the rink, butterflies filled my stomach as we walked to our locker room. I was so nervous I thought I was going to throw up. I felt like all the pressure was on me since I’m the last line of defense before the other team scores. It would be all my fault if they score. Also, I had never played in a section game. The goalie before me always played, but she finally graduated so I knew now was my only shot to prove myself. If our team didn’t show up and play our best I knew we could be heading home early. And our goal would never be fulfilled.

               I was still so nervous when we were getting dressed; however, once we stepped onto the ice for warm-ups all those butterflies went away. I was stopping every shot. I was now in the groove and ready to start this game, or so I thought. 

 

               As the puck dropped, the play was fast and furious as the Falcons were looking for an upset win over us. Five minutes into the contest our team scored, Michaela Rothstein notched the first goal, tipping in a pass from Sara Holmgren with a second assist to Sydney Baldwin.

               All I could think was “yes, yes, yes, we have this in the bag.”

               However, soon enough the Falcons got the equalizer with a power play goal by Emma Terres, as Katie McMillan was sent off for holding.

“Noooooo how could this happen,” is all I could think. I couldn’t believe that I let this goal in since I was doing so well in warm-ups. I continued to beat myself up about this the entire game instead of just letting it go and getting back to the game. I could tell that this was going to be a battle throughout the game since we were not playing our normal Minnetonka Hockey. Once again we were playing down to our opponent’s level. And the speech Sydney made obviously didn’t motivate anyone, even myself.

               We had several power play opportunities throughout the first period but could not capitalize on them which only made our team more down and the Falcons more fired up. The score remained 1-1, with shots heavily favoring us 18-3 after the first.

After going over our game plan again between periods, we came out in the second period fired up and continued to dominate in shots again, but found ourselves down a goal. Mari Verbeten scored another power play goal for RAC after Presley Norby was charged with a body-checking minor.

Once again all I could think is “that this game is over. I lost the game for my team.” I even started tearing up because I thought to myself that this will be my last game as a Minnetonka Skipper. After playing as a Skipper for 10 years it might be over and it would be my fault.

I continued to beat myself up for this goal too since the initial shot had bounced off my head and then when I went into the butterfly I accidently kicked it in myself. I was already still focused on the first goal at this time and knew I couldn’t keep doing that. I needed to let these goals go and focus on the present because there was still a lot of hockey to be played.

We responded with an unassisted even strength goal by Sydney Baldwin at 7:10. I felt better after this goal because we were still in this game, but I still couldn’t stop thinking about the goals I let in. We scored another just a few minutes later by Emma Bigham, who slammed home a pass from Presley Norby. I was even more relieved after this goal since we finally took the lead. Shots in the second period were 19-4, with our slim 3-2 lead. Our team finally felt good going into the locker room after the second period since we had the lead.

 

We were far from finished, though, and finally showed our potential during the third period when Annelise Rice picked up a goal just 53 seconds in, with the assist to Presley Norby. Eight minutes later Presley grabbed a goal for herself with Katie McMillan earning the assist. Lucy Hoelscher put the final touches on a power play goal to lead us to a 6-2 victory. RAC’s goalie Ashley Ritten faced 52 shots overall and I saw a total of 11 shots in the contest which was very few especially since I let 2 goals in. I continued to beat myself up about how I almost lost the game for my team and that I was not being a very good captain by not holding up my end of doing my best. However, I knew I had to let it go since our next opponent would be the hardest we faced all year.

 

The Start of the Journey

After sailing to three consecutive Minnesota AA State Championships, Minnetonka girls’ hockey has built a tradition of success and this year we had a lot to live up to.

This coming season, however, we entered uncharted waters. Regrouping after the graduation of 12 seniors, we featured a lot of new faces as my fellow captains and I led a crew of younger and less experienced players.

This was not going to stop us though.

               At the beginning of the season my fellow captions and I sat down our new team and explained to them, “That it doesn’t matter that we lost all those players, we are still going to play Minnetonka Hockey and work our butts to get better every day. We might not be the most skilled team out there, but we will be the hardest working team and the most frustrating opponent to play against.” This ended up being our motto for the rest of the year. We made sure that every practice and every game we gave it everything we had. And when we didn’t live up to our potential we would get punished for it by skating. Since hockey is a team sport our coaches would even skate with us.

Also at the beginning of the year, our head coach EJ asked everyone on the team to write a team goal on a sheet of paper and the most popular goal would be our team’s goal for the entire year. Our goal was to make it to state, which means we would have to win our section 6AA tournament. This goal was written on our white board so we could see it every day when we were working towards it.

               As the year progressed we made prominent steps forward, but also several times we took steps backwards by either playing down to our opponent’s level or not being mentally there during practice or a game. This seemed to be a continuing thing for our team especially towards the end of the year when we were so close to sections. EJ was concerned that we wouldn’t even pass through the first round of sections if this kept happening so he asked us captains to talk to the team to figure out why this keeps happening and to motivate the team. Frankly I was concerned with the same thing.

So we brought everyone together for a team meeting before the start of sections. Sydney Baldwin, one of the captains, explained to the younger girls that “sections isn’t going to be an easy walk through for those of you who think that. We can’t just turn on and off playing our best. Many of you might be thinking that since we have won the past three years, we are bound to win again, but that isn’t true. This is a new year and we haven’t won anything yet. The trophy is up in the air just like the games. So I want you to ask yourselves, have you been doing everything you could up to this point to reach our team goal? And if not what are you going to change to that to a yes?” We left the meeting at this.