Alexandria girls' hockey: Cardinals fly past Brainerd/Little Falls

• Ellingson

Taylor Ellingson notched a hat trick Tuesday night as the Cardinals shut out Brainerd-Little Falls 8-0 in Central Lakes Conference girls’ hockey action. (Eric Morken, Echo Press)

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Taylor Ellingson scored a hat trick and Becca Illies added a goal and an assist as the Cardinal girls avenged an earlier season loss to the Brainerd-Little Falls Flying Warriors with an 8-0 shutout Tuesday night.

“Besides avenging the 3-1 defeat in Brainerd, the Cards also needed the two points to keep pace with Sartell in the CLC,” said head coach Andy Shriver.

Goalie Bailey Serum earned the shutout as she turned back all 18 shots by Brainerd/Little Falls.

“[It] was a great foundation for the team to take care of business,” said the Cardinal coach. “Another score sheet highlight was Taylor Ellingson using her lethal shot to notch a three-goal hat trick, bumping her 2013 stats to five goals in the last four games.”

Nicole Bartels picked up the first goal of the night, with Becca Illies adding the second goal of the first period.

Two of Ellingson’s goals came in the second period, sandwiched around a goal by McKenzie Revering, leaving the Cardinals with a 5-0 lead at the end of two periods.

“With 17 minutes to play, it felt that our best shifts of the night were to come, and it proved to be the case as Shelby Iverson scored from Illies and Anna Carlsen,” said Shriver. “Then Ellingson closed out her hat trick with 4:52 to play, assisted by Lauren Niska and Houska, giving Houska a ‘playmaker’ (three assists) on the night.”

Niska scored the final goal of the night on a feed from Iverson.

Alexandria hosted Sartell-Sauk Rapids-Rice last night, Thursday, and will be hosting North Wright County on Tuesday.

ALEXANDRIA 8,

BRAINERD/LF 0

BRAINERD/LF 0 0 0 — 0

ALEXANDRIA 2 3 3 — 8

FIRST PERIOD

ALEX – Nichole Bartels (Madi Houska) 3:59, ALEX – Becca Illies (McKenzie Revering) 8:11.

SECOND PERIOD

ALEX – Taylor Ellingson (unassisted) 4:38, ALEX – McKenzie Revering (unassisted) 11:36, ALEX – Taylor Ellingson (Melissa Drown) 14:59.

THIRD PERIOD

ALEX – Shelby Iverson (Becca Illies, Anna Carlsen) 3:30, ALEX – Taylor Ellingson (Lauren Niska, Madi Houska) 12:08, ALEX – Lauren Niska (Shelby Iverson) 15:09.

SHOTS ON GOAL – Brainerd/LF 7-3-8—18, Alexandria 9-11-9—29.

GOALIE SAVES – Sara Wennerstrand, BLF, 11; Natalie Berens, BLF, 10; Bailey Serum, Alex, 18.

Tags: alexandria sports, sports, cardinals, girls, hockey