Lady Bears take 2nd at tourney

Coach Michael Mosher

The Lake of the Woods 15U team took second place in the “Frozen Five” girl’s tournament in New Richmond, WI the weekend of Feb 14.
Lake of the Woods started the weekend with a Friday night game against Centennial, a team from the Circle Pines/Lino Lakes area. It took a while for the teams to figure each other out, but it was Lake of the Woods who scored first with 1:48 to go in the first period. That goal was scored on a nice slap shot by Sam Lyon that was assisted by Courtney Bitter. The second period belonged to Lake of the Woods, with six goals being tallied during those 15 minutes. Courtney Bitter, Brittany Fish, and Sam Reinert had two goals apiece in the period. Deanna Baron had an unselfish three assists, with additional assists going to Courtney Bitter (2), Danielle Rudd, and Anne Gillie. The game ended with Lake of the Woods winning 7-0, putting nearly 40 shots on goal to Centennial’s eight. Courtney Bitter and Deanna Baron earned playmaker (3+ points) awards on the evening, with Jackie Sorrels posting a shut out.
On Saturday morning, Lake of the Woods encountered Wisconsin Winter Club, a city league team from the Milwaukee area. By the time Lake of the Woods wiped the sleep out of their eyes they were losing 0-4 in the first period. In the second period, the Lake of the Woods girls quickly regained their composure and scored three unanswered goals. The score remained 4-3 in WWC’s favor late into the third period, even though play was clearly dominated by Lake of the Woods. WWC scored their fifth goal of the game with a little over two minutes to play, and subsequently handed a loss to Lake of the Woods, 3-5.
Sunday brought a new day and a later start time for Lake of the Woods as they faced a team from New Prague, MN. Lake of the Woods scored less than a minute into the opening period on an unassisted goal by Sam Lyon. Sam’s goal held through almost the entire course of the game, as Lake of the Woods could not find the back of the net again until Danielle Rudd scored on an empty netter late in the third period. Lake of the Woods out shot their opponents 25-13 on the day. Jackie Sorrels had a great game in goal, and her solid play secured the 2-0 victory for Lake of the Woods.
Lake of the Woods was on the ice a few hours later facing the host team, Hudson/New Richmond. Lake of the Woods came out strong scoring four goals in the first period. Deanna Baron scored twice in the period, with the first goal assisted by Danielle Rudd and Courtney Bitter, while her second goal was assisted by Brittany Fish. Sam Reinert scored with an assist from Danielle Rudd, and Courtney Bitter scored an unassisted goal to finish out the first period. Katelyn Thompson scored her second goal of the season late in the second period with the assist going to Deanna Baron. Lake of the Woods tallied one more goal in the third period from Natalie Ramiller, assisted by Danielle Rudd. Hudson/New Richmond scored one goal in the second and another late in the third, and the game ended with Lake of the Woods winning 6-2.
Things got interesting from here, as Lake of the Woods’ hopes at taking second place hinged on the outcome of the New Prague vs. Wisconsin Winter Club game. As if additional drama was needed, this game went into a double shootout, with WWC winning by one goal. Second place then came down to New Prague or Lake of the Woods, with the net goals over the course of the weekend being the determining factor. Lake of the Woods’ net goals on the weekend were 11, while New Prague’s were 10, so the Lake of the Woods girls won the second place trophy by one goal!
Next on the schedule for the Lake of the Woods 15U team are two away games vs. Fort Frances (2/22) and International Falls (2/23). The following weekend (2/28) the girls will be heading to Bemidji to compete in district playoffs. Lake of the Woods finished third in the seeding, and will play the sixth seed, Thief River Falls on Friday night at 8:00pm. If you get the opportunity, make the trip to Nymore arena and support your girl’s hockey team.