TROJAN GIRLS HOCKEY: Cardinals hammer Worthington 14-0

WORTHINGTON — A seven-goal second period powered the Luverne Cardinal girls hockey team past the Worthington Trojans in a Southwest Conference match-up Thursday night.

“We played well as a team and we were able to pass the puck around a lot,” LHS defenseman Carly Serie said. “We were able to get a lot of our goals with good passes.”

It didn’t take long for the Cardinals to get on the board with Briana Erickson putting one past Trojan goalie Amanda Bristow at the 15:02 mark. Assists on the goal went to Mariah Aukes and Madison Crabtree.

A power play goal at 9:04 by Monique Aanenson put Luverne up by two goals, but the Cardinals were not done there. A goal by Crabtree and another by Makayla Sterrett with under five minutes left in the first put the Cardinals up 4-0 heading into the first intermission.

“It doesn’t matter who we play, we are going to play as hard as we can,” LHS coach Nick Domagala said. “We will race to the puck and play our best.”

Despite being down by four after one period, the Trojans still felt like they were able to keep pace with the Cardinals.

“We were covering them well and we played hard and tried our best,” WHS defenseman Morgan Johnson said. “They are a good team, so I think we played really well with them in the first period.”

However, the Trojans’ second-period struggles continued. For the third straight game, Worthington allowed five or more goals in the middle frame, this time letting in seven and forcing a goaltending change halfway through the period.

“I don’t know what it is with us and the second period,” Johnson said. “We come out strong in the first period, but all of a sudden we get tired in the second.That is what I feel like is going on with us.”

Bristow was replaced in net by seventh grader Bailey Kruse who made 15 saves on 22 shots in relief. Bristow faced 25 shots making stops on 18 of them.

Goals for the Cardinals in the second period came from Katie Eeten, Sterrett, Aukes, Serie (two), Samantha Priebe and Morgan Hohn.

With an 11-0 lead heading into the third period, Domagala elected to switch up his lines and allow some of the younger players to get more ice time in an attempt to not let things get too out of hand.

“I am not one to run the score up on a team,” Domagala said. “By no means do we want to make anyone feel bad. The Worthington girls fought hard the whole game. We both have younger players, but it is a different sport.

“You can’t just pick up a baseball bat and swing it a few times to get a hold of it. You have a lot of actions to do and learn.”

The Cardinals added three more goals in the final period to increase their lead to 14. In its first four games, Luverne has outscored its opponents 34 to 5.

“I feel like we are able to score a lot because we are always supporting each other,” LHS forward Madison Crabtree said. “We give each other praise when we do something good and give pointers to help each other out.”

Although the Trojans have lost three straight games by eight or more goals, Rowley feels they still have something to be proud of after the loss.

“I feel like we can keep our heads up no matter how high the score,” Rowley said. “We came out in the third period and just tried to have fun and set small goals for ourselves.”

Luverne will take its undefeated record to Marshall Tuesday to face the 3-1 Tigers. Worthington plays again next Thursday at Windom Area.

Cardinals 4 7 3 — 14

Trojans 0 0 0 — 0

Daily Globe Reporter Jordan Willi

may be reached at 376-7335.

Tags: sports, prep, hockey, girls, trojans, luverne