BEMIDJI 鈥� Last year, the Bemidji High 歪歪漫画 girls hockey team ended a 31-game, 17-year winless drought against Warroad.
So when the Lumberjacks were presented their first chance in over three decades to establish a winning streak over their border-of-Canada rivals, the Warriors flexed their offensive depth.
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Warroad scored four times in the first period, then four more times in the second on its way to a 9-3 win over BHS on Tuesday at the Bemidji Community Arena.
鈥淗aving some adversity right now in this season is good for us,鈥� assistant coach Laura Carlton said. 鈥淪eeing teams like this, we learn a lot from tonight 鈥� stuff we have to work on, stuff we have to tighten up. I鈥檇 rather take a loss like this right now than in January.鈥�
The Lumberjacks didn鈥檛 get out to a good start. Olivia Anthony put home a rebound amid a flurry of traffic in front of the net eight minutes into the first period to put the Warriors ahead 1-0.
The lead came before BHS took a shot on goal.
The one-goal deficit, however, served as a wake-up call for the Jacks. Naomi Johnson leveled the contest two and a half minutes later, with assists from Megan Berg and Millie Knott.
Warroad regained the lead with two and a half minutes left in the first period. Samantha Earhart beat Ava Myhre with a five-hole shot, finishing off a passing sequence with Karlee Kalbrenner and Emmie Hardwik.
That鈥檚 where Bemidji鈥檚 wheels fell off.
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Kaiya Sandy gave the Warriors a 3-1 lead with 54 seconds left in the first period with an unassisted goal. Jaylie French added another with 14 seconds remaining before the intermission.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had really good first periods this season,鈥� Carlton said. 鈥淚 think (those two goals) knocked us off a little bit. 鈥� It鈥檚 really tough to come back when you have this hole you have to dig out of really early on.鈥�
The Warriors (5-1) didn鈥檛 stop there. Taylor Reese put Warroad ahead 5-1 with a breakaway goal 36 seconds into the second period. Reese scored again just under four minutes into the middle frame. Anthony added her second goal midway through the second period, before Vivienne Marcowka added another.
Sandy scored her second goal of the game in the third period to cap the six-goal win.
鈥淲e need to have better defensive-zone play and clean that up a little bit,鈥� Carlton said. 鈥淭his was a really good test for that tonight and really showed some of our weaknesses. 鈥� We talked about it before the game, how this would be won or lost in our defensive zone. You can鈥檛 let a team like Warroad have an inch in your zone or they will capitalize on it.鈥�
Sandwiched between the last two Warroad goals in the second period was the 16th tally this season for Bailey Rupp. She scored again in the third period, increasing her state-leading total to 17. Rupp entered Tuesday鈥檚 game with the second-most points in the state (24) through six games.
鈥淭he most remarkable thing about Bailey is her attitude and her work ethic and the way she is with her teammates,鈥� Carlton said. 鈥淗er hockey ability isn鈥檛 even the most impressive or stunning part about Bailey. We don鈥檛 want to be a team where an opponent can isolate one player. Warroad tried and she still scored twice. She鈥檚 a one-in-a-lifetime player to coach.鈥�
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Bemidji (4-3) is in the middle of a tough pre-Christmas stretch of games. The Lumberjacks went 1-1 in their Twin Cities trip last weekend, picking up a 6-0 win over Buffalo before falling to No. 3 Hill-Murray 8-1.
After next Tuesday鈥檚 road game against Thief River Falls, BHS closes the calendar year with four home games against Alexandria, Brainerd/Little Falls, Benilde-St. Margaret鈥檚 and Roseau.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not really productive to sit and dwell on a loss like this, but there鈥檚 a lot we can learn, for sure,鈥� Carlton said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 probably a combination of both of those things. Let鈥檚 take what we can and learn from this. We鈥檙e back in action pretty quick, so we have to move on from this.鈥�
Warroad 9, Bemidji 3
WAR 4 4 1 鈥� 9
BHS 1 1 1 鈥� 3
First period 鈥� WAR GOAL: Anthony (Sandy) 8:06; BHS GOAL: Johnson (Berg, Knott) 10:44; WAR GOAL: Earhart (Kalbrenner, Hardwick) 14:28; WAR GOAL: Sandy (unassisted) 16:06; WAR GOAL: French (Marcowka) 16:46.
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Second period 鈥� WAR GOAL: Reese (unassisted) 0:36; WAR GOAL: Reese (French, Comstock) 3:54; WAR GOAL: Anthony (Marcowka) 11:21; BHS GOAL: Rupp (Knott) PPG, 13:07; WAR GOAL: Marcowka (Anthony) 13:25;
Third period 鈥� BHS GOAL: Rupp (unassisted) 6:09; WAR GOAL: Sandy (Kar. Brekke, Kat. Brekke) 6:27.
Saves 鈥� Myhre (BHS) 30; Rolli (WAR) 15.
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