The Mound Westonka/Southwest Christian girls hockey team has had a very busy stretch to begin the season. Five games and four scrimmages have taken their toll on the girls and worn them out a bit. Now they have only four games over the next three weeks.
This past week saw the White Hawks travel to South St. Paul on Tuesday. The always strong Packers were rated No. 2 in one poll and No. 6 in two others. The White Hawks struck first when Sydney Leonard scored on a 2-on-1 break in. Ellie Schmid assisted on the play. The first period would end with the White Hawks leading 13-10 in shots.
The shot total would be the exact same for period two, but the Packers outscored the White Hawks 2-1 in the period. Camryn Hargreaves had a great rebound goal off of a Emily Wendorf shot from the point. Syd Leonard received the other assist.
The third period saw MWHS wear down the home team and score four times. Ashlee Johnson scored on a rebound of a Gisell Harder shot, with Tori Lacomy getting the other assist. Then Leonard scored her second goal of the game on a rebound of a Sage Finck shot.
South St. Paul pulled their goalie with just under 3 minutes left in the game. Emily Wendorf got an empty net goal with 1:59 left to put the game away 5-2. Hargreaves got her second goal of the game on a great individual play to end the scoring at 6-2. Shots on goal were 38-28 in favor of the White Hawks. Ashlyn Roth had 26 saves in goal for the win.
On Friday night, the White Hawks took their annual overnight trip, this year to Alexandria to take on the Cardinals. The visitors played their strongest game of the young season, outshooting their opponent 51-26 and getting the 4-2 victory. Again Sydney Leonard started the scoring, this time in the second period. She threw a shot on the Alexandria goal that went off a Cardinal defenseman and into the net. No more scoring would occur until the third period.
The final period was fast and furious. The Cardinals scored the first two goals of the period and held a 2-1 lead with 10 minutes remaining in the game. Then Gretta Pioske slammed home a rebound to tie the game at the 11:40 mark. Just under two minutes later, Greer Hardacre fought through two defenders and slid a shot through the goalie's five hole to put the White Hawks in front.
The game then became very feisty. Eventually, the Cardinals got called for a penalty, and the White Hawks took advantage of it. Patience paid off, with Hargreaves scoring on a rebound of a Wendorf shot. Leonard also picked up the second assist. With the assist, Leonard became the ninth player to ever score 100 points for the White Hawks.
The White Hawks returned to town to host Willmar on Saturday night. At times the girls were sloppy, but they were able to withstand pressure from Willmar and win 5-3 to improve their record to 5-3. Pioske scored another rebound goal to tie the game 1-1 midway through period one. Montana Courneya scored off a Hardacre pass to put the White Hawks in front 2-1. But Willmar tied the score at 2 with just over a minute left in period one. The teams entered the intermission with the shots 10-6 in favor of the White Hawks. Only one goal was scored in the second period, but it was a pretty give 'n go from Pioske to Leonard.
The third period saw Leonard score, with assists going to Hargreaves and Harder. After a Willmar wrist shot from the top of the circle brought them within a goal, Ali Butler received a pass from Leonard and took a shot from the point and scored her first varsity goal. Hargreaves also assisted on the goal. Shots for the game were 32-23 in favor of the home team.
This week, the White Hawks host two Class AA opponents, Mahtomedi on Tuesday night and Dodge County on Saturday afternoon.
