The Cloquet-Esko-Carlton girls hockey team picked up their 13th win of the season last Thursday, and in doing so they also clinched the Lake Superior Conference hockey title.
Playing at home, the Jacks downed Duluth 2-1 behind a two-point night from Whitney Anderson.
"In both games against Duluth we had 2-0 leads," said CEC coach Dick Bartholdi. "The last time we took some penalties in the third period and the game ended in a tie. This time we were able to hang on for the win."
Sadie Lundquist got the Jacks on the board first with a goal at 6:17 of the first period with Anderson and Danielle Beck picking up assists.
Anderson made it 2-0 at 13:39 of the second with Courtney Esse assisting and it looked like the Jacks had things well in hand.
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"I think we're coming around," mentioned Bartholdi. "We made some line changes and some changes on defense and we've experimented with some different forecheck patterns, but I think we're getting closer to where we need to be down the stretch."
The Northern Stars made things interesting at the 7:57 mark of the third period when Samantha Buckley scored on assists from Ashley Johnson and Tori Hendrickson.
"Duluth has improved tremendously," commented Bartholdi. "They work so hard that they force you into making mistakes through their hard work."
Paige Thunder had a busy night in the nets with a 31-save effort for CEC, while her counterpart Laura Bellamy made 32 saves.
"It was a solid, overall team effort," explained Bartholdi. "A lot of girls did a lot of good things and right now we are trying to hone our systems to make sure we're ready for playoffs."
Things looked very bleak for the CEC girls hockey team in the third period on Tuesday night. Playing on the road in Hibbing, the Lady Jacks trailed Hibbing-Chisholm by a two goals, but heroics by Jessica Baublitz and Leanne Gittings brought them back in a game that ended in a 3-3 draw.
After Michelle Allen scored on an assist from Sadie Lundquist at 5:25 of the first period, the picture appeared bright for CEC. The Jacks are always tough when they score first, and the fact that the goal occurred on the power play from a defenseman was also a good indication that CEC was on their game.
Hibbing bounced back to tie the game at 12:44 of the first when Jamie Briski evened it at 1-1, with Allie Pullar assisting.
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Tiff Wilkerson gave the Bluejackets the lead at the 9:36 mark of the second, and then a mistake by CEC in their own zone gave Briski an opportunity to score shorthanded at 13:48. Briski capitalized on the chance, giving Hibbing a 3-1 lead coming out of the second period.
A key to the Jacks comeback was Baublitz' goal which came with an assist to Kearsty Cordle just 1:37 into the final period.
The fact that CEC scored a goal was key, but also the fact that the goal happened early in the period enabled the Jacks to settle in and not panic. Leanne Gittings completed the comeback with a marker at 12:07 with Baublitz assisting to tie things at 3-3.
CEC goalie Paige Thunder picked up 19 saves for the Jacks as did Kaye Collier for Hibbing.
Pine Journal sports reporter Kerry Rodd can be contacted at: kdrodd@aol.com .
