CEC Girls Play Tough, But Fall In The Semi-Finals

Wes Vork-NSO

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Feb 12

Wes Vork-NSO

CLOQUET – One of the big keys in the Section 7AA semi-final girls hockey game between Cloquet-Esko-Carlton and Grand Rapids/Greenway was that the Jacks had to keep Molly and Morgan Illikainen in check and off the scoreboard. Through one period the Jacks worked their plan to perfection, however the game is a three period affair and Molly Illikainen picked up the slack by scoring a pair of goals and assisting on the third in helping her team to a 3-0 win over CEC.

After the game, CEC Head Coach Mike Bushey talked about his team’s efforts, telling Northland Sports Online, “Tonight they just happened to score more goals than we did. We couldn’t have played any better. Every kid did what we ask them to do and, if every kid does what we ask and you don’t score more goals than the other team … well wins aren’t guaranteed, effort can be and our kid’s effort couldn’t have been better tonight.”

The first period was played close to the vest with the Jacks not allowing the high-flying Lightning any space and limiting any good opportunities around Jacks netminder Alyssa Acheson. In the second period that changed when CEC took a holding penalty only to have Molly Illikainen snap a quick shot past Acheson off a feed from her sister Morgan and Meaghan Cemensky for a 1-0 lead.

CEC came out and dominated the early stages of the third period and kept the puck in the Lightning zone, but were unable to get a puck by goalie Sydney Helmbrecht. There were numerous rebounds, but CEC just couldn’t quite get to the bouncing pucks that were swatted away by the defenders of Grand Rapids/Greenway.

Things got a whole lot tougher for CEC when Illikainen notched her second goal at 8:57 on a scramble around the Jacks net for a 2-0 lead. At 12:30, just moments after exiting the penalty box, Illikainen crashed the net and rifled a shot on Acheson who made the save only to have the rebound go to Aspen Anderson. Anderson slammed home the goal for a 3-0 lead as Hannah Schmoll also assisted.

Coach Bushey summed up his team’s disappointments afterwards, explaining, “The reality is, not one team didn’t want to be the state champion, so in reality there’s only one team that’s truly happy.” Bushey further added, “We always talk about honoring the jersey and honoring the communities that we live in. So at the end of the night, while it might be disappointing, these girls still have to be proud of their effort and be happy when they look in the mirror.”

For the game, CEC outshot the Lightning 44-24, including a huge 19-7 advantage in the final period. The 44 shots were a season best for the Jacks, but Helmbrecht was able to stop every one of them to notch the shutout win.

The Lightning will move on to play in Forest Lake on Wednesday night against Elk River/Zimmerman, a 4-0 winner over Proctor/Hermantown/Marshall on Saturday afternoon.

Wes Vork can be reached at wes@northlandsportsonline.com