TROJAN GIRLS HOCKEY: Worthington loses to Waseca in girls hockey

WORTHINGTON — Amanda Bristow made 31 saves on 39 shots as the Worthington Trojans fell to the Waseca Bluejays 8-0 Saturday in a non-conference girls’ hockey game.

“It wasn’t a bad game,” WHS coach Eric Milbrath said. “We did a lot of good things. They were a solid team with tall, big girls who move the puck really well. On defense, we did the best we could.”

The Trojans were able to get nine shots on net in the game.

Waseca opened up the scoring at 11:11 in the first on a goal by Olivia McIntosh on a rebound in front of the net that Worthington was unable to clear out in time.

The Bluejays took a 2-0 lead 5 minutes later when Aly Storjohann put a puck past Bristow. Abbe Hoehn made it 3-0 in favor of Waseca with just over 2 minutes left in the first period.

Despite being down by three goals, Milbrath felt his team was able to handle the physical play the Bluejays brought to the game.

“I feel like our girls were really able to match their physicality, especially in front of the net,” Milbrath said.

The Trojans physicality was in full force in their defensive end, especially in front of Bristow’s goal crease.

“Defensively, we were doing a good job of moving bodies in front of the net,” Milbrath said. “Sometimes a little too aggressively, but we were able to move them out of the way. However, Waseca did a good job of cycling the puck and always having somebody moving into that spot, which makes it hard to pick up where they were going to be.”

Alica Knoll scored 38 seconds into the second frame on an unassisted goal to give the Bluejays a four goal advantage on the Trojans. Waseca backed that up with a goal by Mackenzie Jorgenson 30 seconds later to increase the Bluejays lead to five.

Katie Johnson rounded out Waseca’s third period scoring with a shot that beat Bristow to give them a 6-0 lead heading into the third.

“The last three to four games, we have seen a good shift in our play in the second period,” Milbrath said. “We have come out and made it a more even period. We’ve even come out on top in the period with a goal, more shots or some good offensive pressure.”

The Bluejays scored two more times in the third to take home an 8-0 win on goals from Sami Meyer (short-handed) and Taryn Juberien.

Worthington did have three quality scoring chances in the game, with two of them coming in the first period.

On the first chance, Betsy Thompson found Bailey Kruse in front of the Bluejays’ net, but was unable to get off a good shot. Kruse once again found herself in front of the net with the puck coming her way from Allison Kremer, but Waseca’s goalie, Taylor Juberien, was there to make the save.

The Trojans (1-14) face off with the Luverne Cardinals Tuesday in the first game of a boys/girls doubleheader in Luverne.

“Luverne will be very similar to Waseca,” Milbrath said. “They are quick, but maybe a little bit smaller so we can use our bodies to move them out of the way a little easier. But we will certainly go in with the same mindset that we did coming into this game against Waseca.”

The Cardinals defeated the Trojans 14-0 in the third game of the season, but Milbrath feels like his girls have what it takes to stay with Luverne on their home ice.

“We’ve played them a few times now and each time we have progressively gotten better in certain aspects of the game,” Milbrath said. “With how we have played in our last few games, with our intensity and our defense, we’ve got a good shot of going out and giving them a run for their money.”

Waseca 3 3 2 — 8

WHS 0 0 0 — 0

Tags: sports, prep, girls, hockey, trojans