Before we go any further, I must report that Roger and Dusty sang the National Anthem last night, again.  I took a lot of cheap abuse for not reporting they had also done so the previous game.  But that game only yielded a 2 – 2 tie – if they want coverage, they have to win!  Roger has become the default singer of the anthem.  Dusty is off now for Florida for a brief respite from our harsh Minnesota winter, so Roger will either solo or be joined by Barb.

“The Voice” was there to cover the following boys’ game v. Apollo (a 2 – 2 tie, and no, Roger and Dusty did not sing the anthem for that game).  He warmed up by gargling honey and watching the girls rebound from their flat performance on Tuesday v. Pequot.  To color guy, Bob – your photo did not pan out.  I’m sure you’re greatly disappointed?

The girls played the St. Cloud Icebreakers last night – it was a battle for 2nd place in the conference, which the Cards have now secured.  As we’ve learned from our study groups, the Icebreakers are a composite of ALL the St. Cloud high schools – Tech, Apollo, and Cathedral – so they are obviously as class AA team (as is the 1st place conference team composed of Sartell and Sauk Rapids).  If there was any question previously, the team must have secured the No. 1 seed in our class A section last night.

[Shelby (38) and Heather (22) take on the Icebreakers.]

Our Cards are still playing without Kalley, Alia, and Britni, I believe 3 of our top 5 scorers.  But sometimes out of adversity . . . The team came out with great intensity and carried the play through the 1st two periods.  With new lines of Shelby, Becca, and Rachael; Melissa, Quinn, and Madi; and Danielle, Sara, and Kaila – all were playing well.  Danielle scored on a rebound in the 2nd period to give us a 1 – 0 lead.  Their goalie played very well and made several key stops.  In the 3rd period, as the Icebreakers pressured to catch up, we played two lines mostly trying to hold the lead.  In the last minute plus, they pulled their goalie trying to get the tying goal.  After what seemed like minutes, with the supervisor continually encouraging the Cards to “Get it out of there!,” Shelby, with Becca providing follow-up support, finally broke free for an empty-netter to make the final score 2 – 0.  Steph obviously played a great game in goal to get the shut out – good on her!

[Heather makes a dash for it.]

[Becca (37)]

[Thwarted?  (That’s actually kind of an odd word, isn’t it?  Sounds like a medical condition.)]

[Shanee’ (40) battles for the little black disc thing.]

[Sara (27), taking advantage of her varsity start, bores in on the opposition.]

[Shanee’ and Nicole (23), on the defense.]

[I believe this was at the start of the 2nd period where we had to begin by killing off the major part of a minor penalty.]

[Just how that was going to be accomplished was the subject of a major discussion among the penalty killers:  Shelby and Becca, the forwards, and Shanee’ and Heather on defense.]

[I believe these are two of our injured players, supporting the team from the bench.]

[Taylor (24), hoping for a breakout, or defending?]

[Brooke (21), Melissa (6), and Quinn (20).]

[Rachael, in search of some friends?]

[Shanee’ on the go!]

[Displaying a steady hand, I was able to capture high school classmate, John Herdan, visiting with Mr. Harris.  John is still the head band guy at Cathedral and one of the Icebreakers is a student of his.]

[Brooke and Shelby]

[Displaying a hand-eye coordination rare for someone of my advanced age, I was able to capture the face-off in mid-drop as Sara prepares to flail away at it.]

[Melissa (6)]

[Steph says, “No puck shall pass!”]

[I scrambled to get this shot as a blurry Shelby scored into the empty net with Becca providing back-up.]

[Celebrating the goal.]

[Celebrating the win.]

It’s hard to believe there is only one game left in the regular season.  Where did it go?  Next Thursday, we host Moorhead and hope to be at full strength then – and as we head into section play.  So, once again we get ready to say good-bye to another senior class.  It all passes so fast.  Most of the seniors are coming upon the last competitive hockey game they will ever play.  I hope they have enjoyed it as much as we have enjoyed watching them play.