Friday, February 20, 2009

2009 Section 8A Girl's Championship: Warroad Nips Rams To Earn 2nd Berth To Minnesota State High School Tournament

Courtesy Of Grand Forks Herald
By: Brad Elliot Schlossman
The Warroad girls hockey team has a long history of heartbreak in the Minnesota Section 8A final.
A couple of eighth-graders might not know anything about it, and they weren’t about to become part of it.
Lisa Marvin gave Warroad an early lead and classmate Kayla Gardner gave the Warriors a trip to the state tournament by scoring an overtime goal in a 2-1 victory over rival Roseau for the Section 8A championship in the East Grand Forks Civic Center.
Gardner’s wrist shot from the slot at 4 minutes, 43 seconds of the extra frame sent the entire Warroad team on the ice to celebrate its third overtime win against the Rams this season.
This one meant the most, though.
Warroad advances to the state tournament for the second time in program history. This section final was usually the roadblock for the Warriors, who had lost in eight of their last nine state-qualifying games.
“Our girls just had the belief and we got a bounce at the end,” Warroad coach David Marvin said. “Roseau is a great hockey team. Either team could have won.”
Roseau, which beat Warroad 3-2 in the section championship last season, ended its season at 22-6. All six losses were by one goal with four coming in overtime.
“Everyone could see what this game was: Two great teams going at it,” Roseau coach Brian Bergstrom said. “What do you do? Our kids have nothing to hang their heads about.”
Although the game featured several high-end offensively talented players, it turned into a defensive battle.
Marvin, a forward, gave the Warriors a 1-0 lead with 3:19 left in the first period. Brook Story’s attempt from the slot trickled to the right side of the goal, where Marvin was able to bang it in.
Roseau tied it up in the second.
Moments after the Rams killed off a 5-on-3 power play that lasted 1:29, Kylie Lane came out of the penalty box and buried a shot from the right circle. That goal came with just 46 seconds left in the middle frame.
After a scoreless third period, Gardner had a great chance to finish it early in overtime. Gardner was stationed alone at the top of the crease and took a pass from behind the net, but Chelsey Froseth (28 saves) turned it aside.
Gardner didn’t miss on her next opportunity.
“The puck just came out in front and I saw the goalie was off to the side a little bit,” she said. “So I tried to put it on the other side. It feels great.”

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