LoW girls finish fourth at Warroad tourney

Michael Mosher

The Lake of the Woods 15U team captured fourth place in a six team tournament in Warroad the weekend of Feb 7.
Lake of the Woods kicked off the weekend with a Friday night match up against a tough Moorhead team. Those in attendance enjoyed the fast paced, back and forth action at the frozen confines of the Olympic arena. Jackie Sorrels stopped all eight shots she faced in the first period, but Moorhead finally got on the board at the 13 minute mark in the 2nd period. Moorhead scored again at just under the six minute mark in the same period, and after a scoreless third period, they left with a 2-0 victory. Jackie Sorrels was solid in net turning away 22 shots from Moorhead, while Lake of the Woods tallied 15 shots against a good Moorhead goalie.

Saturday’s action pitted Lake of the Woods against the Let’s Play Hockey #10 ranked team in the state, White Bear Lake. White Bear Lake scored at the 8:39 mark in the first period, but Lake of the Woods answered back at the 4:47 mark in the same period with a nice goal by Sam Reinert, assisted by Danielle Rudd. White Bear Lake scored again at the 1:56 mark in the second period, giving them a 2-1 edge. Lake of the Woods didn’t answer back until the 5:42 mark in the third period, when Amy Hasbargen scored an unassisted goal on the power play. The third period ended with a 2-2 tie, which led to a five minute overtime of 4 on 4 hockey. After five minutes of 4 on 4 play, the game remained tied. This constituted a second overtime of five minutes with 3 on 3 play. With 1:30 left in the second overtime, Lake of the Woods’ Shantelle Davidson scored the game winner with an assist going to Amy Hasbargen. This was an exciting game which was decided by goaltending, and Jackie Sorrels earned the top spot for the evening. Jackie turned away 17 shots during regulation play, and she came up big in both overtimes, stopping all five shots she faced.
Sunday placed Lake of the Woods against Warroad for the third place spot in the tournament. To say this game was without controversy would be an understatement. Warroad’s first goal came at the 10:17 mark in the first period, but the puck was clearly deflected into the net off a Warroad skate. Left to the discretion of the referee, the goal stood. Lake of the Woods answered back at the 6:11 mark with an unassisted goal by Sam Reinert. Two minutes later, Lake of the Woods’ Brittany Jasper scored with assists going to Shantelle Davidson and Amy Hasbargen. Lake of the Woods went into the second period with a 2-1 lead, but it didn’t last long as Warroad scored at the 13:50 mark, and again at the 10:21 mark, giving them a 3-2 edge. In the third period, Lake of the Woods’ Sam Reinert appeared to score a goal after a scrum at the side of the net, but the referee ruled no goal, as he determined the puck did not fully cross the goal line. The period ended 3-2 in Warroad’s favor, and Lake of the Woods finished fourth overall in the tournament.
Overall, the weekend hosted some of the best girls hockey action around, with Coon Rapids finishing first, Moorhead finishing second, Warroad and Lake of the Woods finishing third and fourth consecutively, and White Bear Lake edging Waverly (Winnipeg) in the consolation round.
Lake of the Woods will be traveling to a tournament in New Richmond, WI the weekend of Feb 14. Stayed tuned for an update on those games.