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Sports

Warriors Girls Hockey Forges 1-1 Tie at Simley

Even after winning five in a row, a tie felt better than a loss for the Henry Sibley girls' hockey team, which deadlocked 1-1 at Simley on Tuesday.

After seemingly months of frustration gave way to a five-game winning streak for the Henry Sibley girls’ hockey team, they weren't upset with missing out on a win Tuesday night in Inver Grove Heights. Even after out-shooting Simley in Tuesday’s 1-1 overtime tie, the Warriors managed to look on the bright side.

“We could’ve won, could’ve pulled it out, we just needed to connect a few more times,” said Warriors senior captain Tara Baago. “We’ve all kind of bonded and now we like the way we’re playing. It was good enough to pull out the tie. At least it’s not a loss.”

Playing in Inver Grove Heights, the Warriors got on the board first in the later stages of the opening period. Third-line forward Erika Hilstrom, a ninth-grader, got loose on a breakaway and beat Simley goalie Kristen Jung for an unassisted score.

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With the Warriors out-shooting Simley in the second and third periods, and Sibley senior goalie Ellen Johnson turning away everything sent her way for the game’s first 43 minutes or so, it looked as if Hilstrom’s goal would hold up. The Warriors were dominating play offensively and were often close to doubling the lead early in the third period, but could not get another shot behind Jung.

“I thought we had way more scoring chances than they did,” said Warriors coach Mike Haedrich. “And our top players were the ones coming in. We just couldn’t come through tonight. Our top two lines had a lot of scoring chances.”

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The deadlock came after Johnson made the save on an initial shot by Simley’s Sydney Knutson. After a scramble in front of the Warriors’ net, the Spartans’ Erica Pate was able to push the puck over the goal line to tie the game.

Each team had three shots on goal in the overtime.

For Henry Sibley, November and December were filled with frustrating overtime losses. The Warriors came to Inver Grove Heights having won five in a row, and at least extended their unbeaten streak.

“It seemed like we were in quicksand the first two periods. We weren’t really moving much,” Haedrich said. “But these guys are tough to score on. You knew, looking at their box scores, that they’d be hard to score on.”

And as expected, the Spartans defense held strong, or at least, strong enough to forge a tie.

“Playing our best, we would’ve won that game,” Simley coach Ashley Albrecht said. “We didn’t play our best, but we came away with a tie, so I guess I’m happy with that.”

Johnson finished with 23 saves for the Warriors, who face powerful Hill-Murray on Friday.

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