Huskies top Panthers 8-2 to reach section semifinals
Owatonna’s Samantha Bogen shields the puck from Rochester Century’s Nina Luke as she skates toward the net. Bogen tied teammate Izzy Radel for the team lead in points with four against the Panthers. Staff photo by Johnnie Phillips
The Owatonna Huskies girls hockey team put an 8-2 beating on the Rochester Century Panthers tonight to advance to the Section 1AA semifinal game at No. 2 Lakeville North on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 7 p.m.
Despite the lopsided scoreline, Owatonna had to come from behind to earn the win after allowing the game’s first goal just 3:51 into the first period. “It kind of brought us back into the game. We’ve thought about this game for the past couple days, and that first goal made it real. Like, ‘Hey, we’re in the section tournament now, anything can happen,’” said Owatonna head coach Tony Cloud.
The Huskies did not trail for long before C.J. Frear-Boerner scored her first goal of the season to even the game 2:12 later. The onslaught began for the Huskies four minutes later when Izzy Radel gave Owatonna its first lead on a play assisted by Sarah Snitker and Samantha Bogen. The score remained 2-1 at the end of the first, but three goals in the opening 12 minutes of the second period gave Owatonna a comfortable 5-1 lead to work with. Scoring for the Huskies were Bogen, Ava Stanchina and Abby Vetsch.
Rochester Century responded with a goal with 2:37 remaining in the period to make the score 5-2 heading into the third. In the third, Owatonna forced a running clock 11:55 minutes into the period after a goal by Macy Stanton and two scores by Izzy Radel increased the lead to six-goals at 8-2. The Huskies were dominant until the final horn, outshooting the Panthers 59-10.
However, they will have a tougher test this Saturday against the No. 2 Panthers.
“It’s going to be a real tough game against someone we haven’t seen yet. They’ve been on a roll too finishing second in the South Suburban Conference. They got us last year in Farmington… Hopefully this time we can be in the right spots and capitalize on the mistakes that they make,” said Cloud.