Girls hockey: Packers pick up their play, but fall to Blades
Published 9:13 pm Tuesday, December 27, 2016
- Jordyn McCormack carries the puck during the second period against St. Paul Blades in the 2016 Girls Holiday Tournament Tuesday night at Riverside Arena. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
The Austin girls hockey team is coming out of the break with a little more steam as it put together a pair of productive performances to start the Austin Holiday tournament in Riverside Arena.
The Packers beat Albert Lea 6-3 Monday and they held a late lead in a 4-3 loss to the St. Paul Blades Tuesday.
Austin goalie Faith Sayles eats up a puck during the third period against the St. Paul Blades Tuesday during the 2016 Girls Holiday Tournament at Riverside Arena. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
The Blades (4-8 overall) scored two goals in a 30-second stretch in the last two minutes of the game to take Tuesday’s game, but the Packers (2-9 overall) were able to show some positive signs in the loss. Austin had battled back from a 2-1 deficit to take a 3-2 lead when Lily Holtz and Erin Bickler each scored third period power play goals.
“I feel like we’ve been skating a lot harder lately,” Austin senior Claire Olson said. “Usually we just skate hard in the first two periods, but we’ve been skating a lot more consistently these past two games.”
Olson scored a goal in the first period to put the Packers up 1-0, but her biggest contribution came on defense. Olson was asked to contain Hannah Zavoral, who is the Blades’ top scorer, and she kept Zavoral from scoring a goal.
Austin’s Myia Hoium guides the puck during the second period against the St. Paul Blades in the 2016 Girls Hockey Tournament Tuesday at Riverside Arena. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
“I thought Claire Olson played awesome,” Austin head coach Brett Vesel said. “She was shadowing a 20-goal scorer and she did a great job. I thought Faith [Sayles] had some big saves and I thought the girls, as a whole, did a nice job.”
Olson said she had to stay focused to keep up with Zavoral.
“She didn’t like to stay still and she was faster than me,” Olson said. “I had to be smart about how I played her.”
Sayles had 25 saves in net for the Packers, who had 32 shots on goal. Vesel likes the effort his young team is showing as it prepares for the second half of the season.
“That was a more complete game for us than we’ve had all year. We’re starting to play more towards an entire game now, but we’ve still got a little bit of work to do,” he said. “Our forecheck is coming on a lot better than it has been and we’re passing the puck up instead of thinking we can skate it up the whole way.”
SCORING SUMMARY
Blades 0 1 3 — 4
Austin 1 0 2 — 3
First period
(A) Claire Olson 8:42
Second period
(S) Grace Dodge (Gianna Gabrielli, Hanna Zavoral) 16:49
Third period
(S) Jillian Kinney 1:11
(A) Lily Holtz (power play) 5:22
(A) Erin Bickler (power play) 12:26
(S) Georgia Angelo 15:06
(S) Colleen Welter (Kinney) 15:32
Shots: Austin — 32; Blades — 29
Power plays: Austin — 2-for-4; Blades — 0-for-3
