Card girls win CLC hockey opener
Alexandria defeated River Lakes 6-3
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The Cardinal girls’ hockey team jumped out early and pulled away late to make sure it picked up its first Central Lakes Conference win of the season on Tuesday night.
Alexandria jumped out to a 3-0 lead before the Stars put together a run that brought them within in a goal going into the second intermission. The Cardinals made sure they did not waste that early lead by putting up three more goals in the third to win 6-3. It was a win that came three days after Alexandria played Hibbing to a 2-2 tie this past Saturday.
The Cardinals wasted no time jumping on River Lakes in the first period. Allyson Nielsen scored her first of two goals less than four minutes into the game. Michelle Anez then added to that lead with a pretty backhand goal to make it a 2-0 lead heading into the first break.
That was just the beginning of a big night offensively for the Cardinals. Claire Illies, Heather Hvezda and Alia Kopischke all added goals to break open what turned out to be a close game going into the third.
Kopischke’s goal extended her strong start to the season. The sophomore is the team leader in goals with six through the first six games. She is also second in points with eight. Anez has also gotten off to a great start to the season with five goals and six assists to lead the team in points.
All that offense helped Lindsey Lien pick up a win in net on Tuesday night. Lien started and picked up 13 saves on the night. Her defense also played well in front of her, holding the Stars to 16 shots, compared to 33 for Alexandria.
The win over the Stars came in the Cardinals’ home opener after opening the season with five straight games on the road. The last of that stretch came this past Saturday when they played Hibbing-Chisholm to a 2-2 tie.
Anez did everything she could to get her team out of there with a win. She got the Cardinals going with a power play goal in the second period. That 1-0 lead held up into the second intermission.
It did not take long for Hibbing to change that in the third. The Bluejackets got a goal from Erin Scovill just 25 seconds into the period to tie the game. Anez then answered with her second of the day on another power play almost five minutes into the third.
But just like before, Hibbing has an answer. This time it was Jacque Laliberti who scored a power-play goal of her own to tie the game at two. That is how things would stand after regulation. Neither team could find the back of the net in overtime as both ended with their first tie of the season.
Lien stopped 25 of the 27 shots she faced to give Alexandria a chance to win. The Cardinals moved to 2-3-1 after the last two games and 1-0 in the CLC. They were back on the road yesterday, Thursday, against Sartell-Sauk Rapids before returning home next Tuesday for a game against Brainerd-Little Falls.
GAME STATISTICS
RIVER LAKES 0 2 1 – 3
ALEXANDRIA 2 1 3 – 6
ALEXANDRIA LEADERS – Allyson Nielsen – 2 goals; Michelle Anez – 1 goal, 1 assist; Heather Hvezda – 1 goal; Quinn Kragenbring – 1 assist; Alia Kopischke – 1 goal, 1 assist; Beth Rindy – 2 assists; Shelby Iverson – 1 assist; Claire Illies – 1 goal
GOALTENDING – Alexandria – Lindsey Lien – 13 saves, 16 shots faced; River Lakes – Steph Lucas – 27 saves, 33 shots faced
ALEXANDRIA 0 1 1 0 – 1
HIBBING 0 0 2 0 – 2
ALEXANDRIA LEADERS – Anez – 2 goals; Kragenbring – 1 assist
GOALTENDING – Alexandria – Lien – 25 saves, 27 shots faced; Hibbing – Dory Johnson – 31 saves, 33 shots faced
Tags: alexandria sports, sports, home, team, cardinals, girls, hockey, central, lakes, conference
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