The Mankato East girls hockey team was too much for crosstown rival Mankato West Tuesday as the Cougars delivered an 8-1 Big Nine Conference victory at All Seasons Arena.
East controlled the game throughout, finishing with a 48-19 advantage in shots on goal. The win upped East’s record to 9-3.
“We’re playing pretty well as a team right now,” said Cougars’ sophomore Lexi Erickson after finishing with a goal and four assists. “We’re building off the good season we had last year.”
Erickson leads East in points with 38.
“I was about middle of the pack in team scoring last year so I’m working well with my linemates,” she said. “I did a lot in the offseason to get better. We all did.”
Cougars’ head coach Amber Prange agreed: “They’ve been working hard in the offseason and we’re starting to see some of that pay off. A lot of these players were young last season and now they’re a year older.”
The ice tilted toward the West end as soon as the game began. The Cougars peppered West goalie Alayna Smith with 15 shots in the opening frame, including three that found their way to the back of the net.
Ella Hudspith scored the first one from between the circles at 6:53 and teammate Laina Peterson scored the second on a breakaway after deking a defender at mid ice and skating in to find the upper left corner five minutes later.
East’s Brielle Newton scored the final goal of the period off a perfect pass from Erickson. Newton one-timed it into the net.
“It took us a little while to get going in the first but then we got into it,” coach Prange said.
East didn’t get on the board again until the 14:57 mark of the second. Kira Prange snapped the puck in from the left circle to give her team a 4-0 lead.
It was more of the same in the third as Reagan Stindl, Ella Fugazzi, Erickson and Grace Campbell all found the back of the net. West countered with its lone score of the game at the 10:42 mark when Charlotte Kirschner one-timed the puck off a faceoff past goalie Jordan Thomas.
West goalie Smith was solid in defeat, particularly in the second period when the Scarlets took three penalties. Smith withstood a 17-2 shot barrage in that frame, giving up just an even-strength goal to Kira Prange.
“Their goalie played well,” coach Prange said. “We put some shots on her but she played tough.”
The Scarlets (6-5) play at Apple Valley on Friday. East returns to action Thursday with a game at conference and section rival Northfield.
West boys win
Mankato West’s Brodie Cox didn’t have any varsity experience coming into his sophomore season.
His breakout game came at a great time, as he scored a hat trick in the Scarlets’ 6-1 win over Mankato East/Loyola Tuesday night. The victory snapped a 10-game losing streak for the Scarlets in the crosstown series.
“He’s probably been our most consistent forward in terms of fighting on pucks, competing for pucks,” West coach Nate Olsen said of Cox. “His linemates have reaped the rewards on the scoresheet this year. It was nice to see him get rewarded. He was ready.”
The game was tied 1-1 at the end of the first period, but the Scarlets took control with a four-goal outburst in the second.
Cox’s first goal of the game came 25 seconds into the second and ended up being the game-winner. Sean King (2:49), Jakobe Tosch (7:25) and Cox (15:52) scored to give the Scarlets a 5-1 lead going into the second intermission.
“We got back to just an emphasis on our shift-by-shift approach,” Olsen said of the second period. “I think that just reset us mentally. Right off the opening draw in the second, we went to work and scored a goal.”
Brayden Keech also scored for the Scarlets, while Tosch had three assists.
Edward Engen scored the lone goal for the Cougars. Shots on goal favored West 29-24.
The Cougars host Northfield Thursday, while West will host Apple Valley/Burnsville Friday.