WORTHINGTON -- The Worthington High girls hockey team celebrated Senior Night on Friday, and several of the program’s veterans found the spotlight.
But a Trojan junior stole the show.
Kessey Aljets scored six times, including a four-goal blitz in the second period, as the Trojans walloped Waseca 10-3 Friday night at the Worthington Ice Arena.
Seniors Brynne White and Ashton Fogelman also scored as Worthington cruised to its second victory in a row and fourth in 10 games this winter.
“It was a good game for us,” said WHS coach Chad Nickel. “The first two periods, especially, we had some real good passing.”
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Aljets, a junior forward, scored two goals 58 seconds apart late in the opening period as the Trojans took a 3-0 lead. The talented performer lit the lamp four more times in the second period, including three tallies within a span of two minutes. The last was a shorthanded goal, with Aljets stealing the puck at center ice and moving in for a breakaway.
“She’s got speed,” Nickel said. “She’s able to move the puck real well. She’s able to get it down there quick and that’s a huge thing.”
Aljets’ final goal came in the final 70 seconds of the second period, and Korey Nickel put the biscuit in the basket seven seconds later as the Trojans earned another shorthanded goal.
The 10-1 lead meant for running time throughout the third period, and winless Waseca scored the only two goals of the stanza.
Sophomore Lauren Nelson also scored for Worthington. But the overwhelming offense wasn’t the complete story of the game for the Trojans. Senior goaltender Alexis Lyons stood tall in net, though she was tested early on when a pair of WHS penalties gave Waseca a 5-on-3 advantage. The game was scoreless at the time, and the visiting Bluejays ramped up the intensity.
“It really did put me in a bad spot, but our team did well on the penalty kill,” Lyons said.
Said coach Nickel: “Our penalty kill is pretty good. Our kids are pretty disciplined and do a good job of playing their positions.”
Fogelman scored with a wrister with five minutes left to tally the game’s first goal. Aljets flashed her stickhandling skills in an end-to-end flurry that produced a goal moments later. Then she tacked on another goal before the first intermission.
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“It opened up the gates,” coach Nickel said of Fogelman’s goal. “They got a little more relaxed and moved the puck real well.”
Waseca had another 5-on-3 advantage in the second period, but once again the Bluejays were denied by the WHS penalty kill. Then Aljets really got rolling.
She scored on a breakaway, then 28 seconds found the net on a rebound. When 90 seconds later Aljets scored for the sixth time a few Trojan fans threw their hats on the ice.
To be sure, a double hat trick is reason for celebration. And so it went for the Trojans this night.
For Lyons, who missed four games because of COVID concerns earlier this season, the night was special.
“It’s really great to be back,” she said. “I forgot how fun it is to be winning and playing together.”
The Trojans travel to Waseca (0-12) on Tuesday, then return to home ice on March 4 to face New Ulm.
Waseca 0 1 2 - 3
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Worthington 3 7 0 - 10
