Huskies begin week with blowout
OWATONNA — Backup goalie Mallorie Dietz had a slow start, but rebounded and shut out the New Ulm Eagles the final 39 minutes of Owatonna’s victory.
|
Behind Dietz and a hat trick by Cailyn McCauley, Owatonna defeated New Ulm 9-2 in a nonconference girls hockey game on Monday night at the Four Seasons Centre.
New Ulm got off to quick start. The Eagles got a goal from Brittany Denn with 11 minutes, 27 seconds left in the first period and held a 1-0 lead for the first 11 minutes of the game.
Paige Lysne and Abby Sawyer scored goals 13 seconds apart to give Owatonna its first lead with 4:56 left in the first period. But Denn scored her second goal of the game 49 seconds later and the score was tied at 2-2. From that point on, the Eagles had no luck getting the puck past Dietz.
“(Dietz) was pretty psyched up before the game, a little nervous,” said OHS coach Tim Hunst. “The first goal was not what she wanted, but after that she tightened things up. Mallory played a great game.”
While New Ulm struggled to score, Owatonna was tallying one goal after another. McCauley, Sawyer and Lysne all scored later in the first period to give the Huskies a 5-2 lead after 17 minutes.
Payton Noble scored two goals and McCauley added her second goal of the game as the Huskies led 8-2 after two periods. McCauley added a garbage-time goal with five seconds left in the game.
“It was a fun game tonight,” Lysne said. “All of our lines were connecting well and clicking and making good passes, so we were having fun.”
Owatonna improved to 13-4 with the win, the Huskies’ seventh win in a row. Owatonna has outscored its last five opponents 30-3. The Huskies seem to be peaking at the right time with games upcoming against Albert Lea (Thursday) and road games against section powers Lakeville North (Jan. 27) and Rochester Mayo (Jan. 29) in the next two weeks.
“I like to think we’re right with those teams with the kind of hockey we’re playing,” Hunst said. “We’re right up there with the top teams, but time will tell. We have a lot of big games left and we need to keep playing well.”
While Owatonna’s top two lines scored all nine goals on Monday, Hunst has been very happy with his third line, which includes seniors Taylor Disher and Genny Caswell. Hunst said, “It’s just awesome,” to have two veteran players on his third line.
“That line has really been a spark for us, especially last Thursday and Saturday,” Hunst said. “Taylor Disher had a couple of fantastic efforts. They were out there dominating and our other lines saw that and picked up on it.”
Owatonna will next play Thursday at home against Albert Lea. The Huskies were originally supposed to play Lakeville North on Tuesday, but the Panthers asked Owatonna to postpone the game to Jan. 27. That means the Huskies play road games at North and Mayo two days apart and in-between road games at rivals Mankato West and Faribault.
“It’s going to be an intense week,” Lysne said. “We’ll be prepared for it, and we’ll do our best.”
Owatonna scoring: First period: 1, Paige Lysne (Cailyn McCauley) 10:51, 2, Abby Sawyer (unassisted) 11:04, 3, McCauley (unassisted) 14:48, 4, Sawyer (unassisted) 14:48, 5, Lysne (unassisted) 16:11 sh. Second period: 6, McCauley (Aimee Goodew) 10:16, 7, Payton Noble (Lysne, Ashley Kniefel) 11:59, 8, Noble (Whitney Kubat, McCauley) 12:54. Third period: 9, McCauley (Lysne, Kniefel) 16:55 sh. Owatonna goalie: Mallorie Dietz (14 saves).
