Lady Jacks Fall to WBL

Photos by; Myrissa Laitinen

Dwight Cadwell- NSO

The Cloquet-Esko-Carlton Lumberjacks Girls Hockey Team fell Tuesday night to the Bears of White Bear Lake Area by a score of 2-0. Kelly Lanigan and Lexi Englund scored third period goals as the Bears picked up their first win of the season.

In a fast paced contest which saw both teams flying up and down the ice, it was going to be the Bears who took advantage of their chances to pick up the win and see the Lumberjacks still seeking that first victory of the season.

Through the first two periods both teams had several golden opportunities, but outstanding net minding by the Lumberjacks Stacey Nelson and White Bear Lake’s Angie Hall would keep the game scoreless until the third period.

The bears broke the scoreless tie at the 7:42 of the third period when Lanigan took a pass from Emma Statt and slipped the puck past Nelson to take a 1-0 lead. Both teams would continue to battle as the Lumberjacks took control as they would fire seven shots at goalie Hall and she would stop each one as the Bears held on to the one goal lead.

With the Bears hanging on to the one goal the Lumberjacks pulled goalie Nelson for a sixth attacker with 1:34 left in the third period, but even with a one player advantage the Jacks could not break down the wall set up by Hall. Lexi Englund picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone and fired a shot just inside the blue line for the empty netter and it sealed the Bears victory.

The Lumberjacks fall to 0-2 on the season as they will try to rebound this Saturday afternoon when the Lumberjacks will host Roseville (1-0)  at Northwoods Credit Union Arena at 3:00 pm.

The Bears will travel to the western part of the state as they will face Moorhead on Friday night and then travel to Crookston on Saturday to take on the Pirates.

dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonlinecom