In the second game of the Armstrong Holiday Classic tournament, the Eagles found themselves up against a familiar foe.  Back on November 20th, T-G faced the Rogers Royals and came away with a 3-0 victory.  The Eagles nearly duplicated the feat again tonight, shutting out the Royals 2-0 to advance to the Consolation Championship game on Saturday at 7:15pm versus Woodbury.  In this contest, T-G also had a couple of bounces go their way.

Rogers came out sharper to start the game.  Logan Knip and her defensive corps were up to the task.  At 6:26 of the period, Logan made a key save on Royals forward Kaitlin Braeidy.  A couple of minutes later, she came up big again stopping a 2 on 1 rush.  The Eagles defensive unit also blocked 5 shots in the period.  With just 5:05 remaining before the first intermission, Amelia Vosen found Allison Parnell, whose shot glanced off of a Rogers’ defensemen and into the net to give T-G a 1-0 lead.

Although there was no scoring in the second period, both teams had some quality opportunities.  Catherine Hegedus hit the post at the 11:50 mark and moments later, Kristen Dellich found Molly Adam in front, but she was robbed by Royals goaltender Michelle Klimstra.  Shots after 2 periods were 20-16 in favor of Rogers.

The Royals started the 3rd period pressing to get the equalizer.  Maddy Javorina was able to get behind their defense and came in on a breakaway, but her shot went over the target.  Rogers had a golden opportunity when they were given a powerplay chance at the 8:30 mark.  Logan Knip again stood tall as she made 2 great pad saves during the penalty kill to preserve the lead for the Eagles.  With just 5:24 remaining in the game, Catherine Hegedus fired a shot that hit a Royals defenseman’s skate and deflected into the net to increase the T-G lead to 2-0.  For Catherine, it was her second goal of the season.  Logan Knip stopped 30 shots in the contest to earn her 3rd shutout of the season.

Following the tournament finale on Saturday night, the Eagles will be off for the New Year’s holiday before returning to conference play.