Although last week was tough for the Cloquet-Esko-Carlton girls hockey team, this Tuesday, the Lumberjacks took to the road and did a lot toward righting the ship with a 4-0 victory over Hibbing-Chisholm.
Jessica Baublitz hammered home a pair of goals in the win and Sarah Gustafson pitched the shutout in goal by stopping all 20 saves in the victory.
Baublitz started the scoring for CEC at 4:21 of the first period with assists going to senior linemates Danielle Beck and Whitney Anderson. CEC went up 2-0 on a Sadie Lundquist goal at 8:15 from Courtney Esse.
After a quiet second period, the Jacks picked up goals in the third period from Esse, with an assist to Montana Vichorek, and by Baublitz with Anderson assisting. The Jacks' third period goals came at 4:45 and 16:29.
CEC outshot the Bluejackets 28-20 for the game and improved their record to 3-5 on the season.
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Last Tuesday, the Jacks fell in overtime to the defending Section 7AA Champion Grand Rapids Thunderhawks and on Thursday it was a 2-1 loss to Duluth.
- Thursday the Jacks lost, although they outshot the opposition 36-29. The loss was the second tight one-goal loss to a section team in three days for the Jacks.
"We have always been a team over the last eight seasons that won a lot of these close games and starting last year, and now this year, we haven't been able to do it on a consistent basis," explained coach Dick Bartholdi. "We are generating a lot of time in the offensive zone, but are having trouble putting the puck in the net, even though it appears we are getting good chances."
Unfortunately for the Jacks, it appears as if hockey in both Grand Rapids and Duluth is getting better after a slow start to the sport. Duluth also has the advantage of having all three of their high schools playing hockey as one program. And in a city of 85,000 people, it is a large advantage over smaller town programs.
"The truth is that with girls hockey improving every year, that parity is becoming more evident," said Bartholdi. "On any given night, any team can win. The Section 7AA tournament will be up for grabs with Proctor-Hermantown-Marshall, Grand Rapids-Greenway and Duluth arguably having the best teams they have ever had. Also, Forest Lake is making noise in the south and Cambridge-Isanti is returning their entire team from last year."
Megan Stingle gave the Northern Stars the lead at 6:43 of period number two with assists going to Taylor Stutsman and Nikki Logergren. The Jacks notched the tying goal at 11:38 of the second when Sadie Lundquist rammed in a shot with Montana Vichorek and Jessie Ryan assisting.
Both goaltenders were marvelous in the game with the Jacks getting another solid effort from Sarah Gustafson, who made 27 saves, and Duluth getting a big effort from Laura Bellamy, who finished with 35 saves.
The game-winning goal for Duluth was scored by Gina Dodge at 13:17 of the final stanza with Stingle and Tyra Kerr both assisting.
Up until the win over Hibbing-Chisholm, the Jacks had lost a host of close games including 2-1 to Duluth, 5-4 to Grand Rapids-Greenway in overtime, 3-2 to Hopkins in overtime and 3-2 to defending state champion Stillwater in overtime, a team that is currently ranked No. 2 in the state.
"During that span we are getting more shots than the opposition, but the bottom line is they scored one more goal than we did," commented Bartholdi. "Our girls are working very hard and are getting better and better. The coaches feel very good about this team as all of them are improving and becoming even more determined."
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The Jacks are 3-5 on the season.
