alexandriacardinals

Detroit Lakes – 2, Alexandria – 0 (including an empty net goal at the end).  Upsets happen.  It’s why they play the games.  It’s why fans attend the games.  But when it’s your team that gets upset, the preceding explanation is not the least bit comforting.  Stuff happens!  Phooey on stuff!

It wasn’t quite the same this year.  It should have been an omen.  The Super Fans have been spoiled.  We are getting quite comfy in the idea of heading to the MAC for the sections each season and having a pre-game repast at Anton’s.  But recently Super Fans have fallen victim to snowbird malaise and aren’t around at tournament time anymore.  At it’s peak, we attacked the Anton’s menu with up to 14 participants – this year, it was only the supervisor and me, so we just dined on hot dogs and fish baskets at the MAC.  😦 

Then there’s the factor of playing a team you recently dominated.  This is the upset part.  The Cards were playing Detroit Lakes for the section finals.  And the Cards are the more talented team – so displayed when we played the Lakers last month.  This is a situation that has vexed coaches since time immemorial.  It’s the section finals, the Cards played as hard as they could . . . but still, something was missing.  That something is what was on display when we scored 6 goals against Fargo South, an undefeated and No. 1-ranked team in North Dakota, when we beat big school powers Moorhead and St. Cloud late in the season; but not when we struggled in two games (including the section semi-final) against Pequot Lakes.  It’s a crispness – I can’t think of any other way to describe it.

So, in the DL game, I think a combination of the above led us to play with uncharacteristic . . . nervousness?  It would be natural – it was a game to go to the state tournament.  I have never seen a game where we were called for so many penalties?  And they were legit calls.  For the 1st two periods, we had to coordinate our line changes with whoever was going into or coming out of the penalty box.  One time we were called for a penalty and before we could gain possession of the puck for a play stoppage, we took another penalty.  At least two times in the game we had to kill off 5-on-3 situations.  And in the last one , we really didn’t.  DL’s 2nd period goal was called an even strength goal, and technically it was, by the play had already entered by Cardinal zone before the two Cardinals in the penalty box could actually join the fray.

Because we were playing short-handed so often, some of our best scoring chances actually occurred in those situations.  But if you spend the 1st two-thirds of the game killing penalties, you will get tired.  So, in the 3rd period, which we actually dominated from beginning to end, we couldn’t score despite dozens of shots because we were tired and anxious.

[Bailey in warm-ups.  Her white jersey was “on loan” to Melissa for the game.  🙂 ]

[Kalley fires a warm-up shot.  She had only played one game since being out for about a month with a concussion.  She had several had collisions with the boards in the first period – we were concerned.  Later in the game, in what was apparently a mid-ice collision, she went down again and had to leave the game – she was very woozy.  Her family said after game tests were good – but it’s just as well she now has until next season to fully recover.]

[Britni]

[Shelby]

[Danielle]

[Taylor]

[Madi]

[Alia]

[Looks like Kalley.]

[Heather]

[Team]

[Part of the team]

[“Voices of the Cardinals” (they love it when I do this).]

[Where we were.]

[Readying for introductions.]

[Steph]

[Brooke]

[Shanee’]

[Madi]

[Becca]

[Shelby]

[The Anthem]

[Let’s play hockey!]

[Shelby and the opening face-off.]

[On the other MAC rink, St. Ben’s was hosting Bethel.  Alex alum Ally Nielsen stars for St. Ben’s – that’s her shoulder in the bottom photo!  Had a nice, if short, visit with her mom, Jeanne.]

[Goalies commiserate, as only goalies can.  Bailey left Steph laughing -no doubt with another Kim Kardashian joke?]

[Kalley]

[Shelby and Shanee’]

[Kalley and Rachael]

[Rachael and Alia properly stationed for tips or rebounds.]

[Brooke]

[Kalley trying to get the puck to Alia.]

[Post-game handshake.]

[Disbelief!]

Individual medals from Alex AD Dave Hartmann:

[Steph, sr.]

[Melissa, so.]

[Kaila, fr.]

[Kalley, so.]

[Madi, jr.]

[Alia, sr.]

[Britni, so.]

[Rachael, sr.]

[Quinn, sr.]

[Brooke, sr.]

[Heather, sr.]

[Nicole, fr.]

[Taylor, so.]

[Sara, jr.]

[Anna, jr.]

[Bailey, fr.]

[Danielle, jr.]

[Becca, jr.]

[Shelby, jr.]

[Shanee’, jr.]

[The hardest thing to do in sports – hold up the runner-up trophy.]

[In other news:  Those are Super Fans Gretchen and Don Nelson on the right.  Don golfed this week, and he has plans to golf again today!  If he can play in March, he will have accomplished that rare feat of golfing in 12 consecutive months in Minnesota!]

Oh, regarding the trip to St. Cloud.  The supervisor and I don’t venture far from the shores of Lake Darling anymore.  So, we were quite taken aback that I-94 @ 5:00 pm from here to St. Cloud was bumper-to-bumper all the way!  What’s with that – we need more lanes!  And I think I figured out the reason for it on the way home – do you realize you can see Alexandria’s ambient light glow from 20 miles away now!

And a couple more hockey things, while we’re on the subject.  David Francey performed in Alex on Wednesday night – much to our delight.  David is Canadian, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that one of his songs is “Skating Rink.”  We bought the CD, and found the following video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wq_07HbxIUU

And although I was initially attracted to this story because of the connection between angst and writing, it’s also about building a backyard ice rink  😉  :

http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentaries/139552273.html

And now to put the onus on the team for next year.  Based on who we have coming back, and who’s coming up, we should be the section favorites again next year?

[Editor’s note:  I can only hope this satisifies the Super Fan who called from Florida wondering why this report wasn’t posted . . . YESTERDAY!  🙂 ]

THANK YOU LADIES FOR ANOTHER FUN AND EXCITING SEASON!

The staff photographer, et al, followed the team to St. Cloud Apollo, where the Eagles were not expected to extend our Cards.  And they didn’t.  So, Greg took the opportunity to begin preparations for his Senior Night photographic duties on Friday v. Rocori.  [Rocori is not the final home game – but apparently the idea is not to have any pre-game “distractions” for the Fergus game next Thursday. 😉 ]  Unfortunately, we will miss Senior Night as we plan on being in St. Cloud for the hockey section finals v. Detroit Lakes.  Seniors “shot” at Apollo were team managers Missy Schroeder and Kendra Holm:

[Missy]

[Kendra]

[Looks like the Eagles have a nice, new gym]

[Missy discussing game stategy with LT . . .]

[ . . . and with Kohler.]

[Jess greets Cara.]

[ . . . and Whitney.]

[“My last game at Apollo.”]

[But Kalli says, “I’ll be back here again next year.”]

[Time for some fun!]

[“I got it!”]

[I watched the Northwestern men play the 1-3-1 against Indiana.  It was almost as effective as ours, but D-1 men evenutally make adjustments so the Wildcats couldn’t play it all the time.]

[Probably an early in the game break, with the situation already well in hand.]

[“Everybody get ready to play a lot tonight.”]

[Kalli sinks a free throw – with great manual dexterity, the staff photographer and I are getting quite good at catching the ball going through the hoop.]

[Cara sets the play.]

[Amanda C made both shots here . . .]

[Kalli made both shots here – love to see this as we head toward tournament play!]

[The halftime score assured everyone of playing time in the 2nd half.  Uffda!]

[“Put me in coach.  I’m ready to play . . . today”]

[LT finally hears from Pam Borton.]

[“That was hilarious.”]

[“Really?  Pam Borton?  Probably Kim Kardashian.”]

[Cara and Amanda]

[Can’t be fun for the Eagles . . .]

[Whitney – still making our free throws.]

[Does this answer the question re why girls’ games?]

[Emily’s in.]

[Dani made both freebies.]

[“Well, I guess our work is done.”]

[Rachel?]

[Oh, oh.  The Eagles must have done something bad.  Karly shooting a T.]

[Sarah makes a free throw.  Did we miss any?]

[GOOOAAAAALLLLLLL!]

See you next game.

Last night was the section 6A semi-finals for girls’ hockey at the RCC between our Cards and North Lakes.  I may be wrong on the “North Lakes” part – they are generally referred to as Pequot Lakes, but it is a small conglomerate that also includes Crosby-Ironton, among others (I believe).  The Cards were the No. 1 seed in the section, so last night was our first game in the tournament.  We had played Pequot at home just two weeks ago – I think we were expecting a relatively easy win, but the game ended in a 2-2, after OT.  The Cards held a 45-15 edge in shots on goal in that first game.

Incredibly, last night’s game sounded like a carbon copy.  It was a 2-2 tie, went into OT, but this time Alia Kopischke scored with about a minute and a half left to give the Cards a 3-2 victory.  Again the shots on goal were something like 45-15.  They have a very good goalie!

[The rosters.]

[The program.]

[The fight songs.]

[The “fans.”]

[“Coach” gives the team a pre-game pep talk.]

[ . . . then poses with an “assistant” for a St. Paul photorapher.]

[The supervisor exchanges scouting reports with other Super Fans.]

[The arena fills with fans.]

[The fans are invited to join in on a cheer.]

[The supervisor believes there may have been an unconfirmed roster change.]

[We toast the victors.]

[The venue – that’s “Dangerous” Dan’s red Jag convertible parked at the front door.]

[To “Dangerous” Dan, our next-door neighbor, wish you could have been here.]

[The supervisor leaving the arena – one of the few night’s when we had a little snow.]

OK, by now you’ve probably figured out we weren’t at the hockey game.  Conflicts happen.  A long, long time ago in a place far, far away, we decided to make Valentine’s Day our anniversary.  So, for the past several years we make early reservations at Sixth Avenue Wine & Ale for a 4-course dinner, with entertainment by David and Marilyn Bengtson.  At the time we did not realize we were going to have a hockey conflict.  To the supervisor’s credit, we have celebrated past anniversaries by . . . going to girls’ hockey games.  I will admit to sneaking out to the car between courses to check on the game – and I was listening live when Alia scored the winning goal.  Then I went back in and had dessert.

Fortunately, we had a new stringer at the game to provide on-site coverage:

Hope you had a nice Valentine’s Day and Anniversary celebration last night.

You missed a nail biter last night.  The Alex girls skated hard and peppered the net, but the Pequot Lakes goalie was a wall.  Alia Kopischke scored first in a scrambled in front of the net near the end of the 1^st period.  They scored a power play goal to tie it up right away the start of the 2^nd period.  We went into the locker room at the end of the 2^nd period tied 1-1.  We dominated the play most of the 3^rd period and finally with just minutes left, Taylor Ellingson got the puck in the goal during another scramble.  With a 2-1 lead, we were crossing our fingers we could just keep the puck buried in their end.  Unfortunately, on a nice breakaway, PL scored with about 1:30 left.  So, into overtime we go. Again, we dominated but every time the puck went into our end of the rink the crowd collectively held their breath.  With about 2 minutes left of the first overtime, Alia Kopischke scored a pretty goal off a nice pass from Kalley Kragenbring.  Shots on goal were 45 – 15 in our favor.  Yikes!

So, next stop is DL at the MAC in St. Cloud on Friday night at 7:00. I think it could be a good game. Maybe we will see you there – all depends on our boys’ hockey schedule (things are up in the air right now).   ~ Karen Meuwissen, hockey mom (to Beth Rindy from the state championship team) and, incidentally, a marketing and sales instructor at the Alexandria Technical and Community College

Thanks, Karen!  And I presume we will see a rush of Super Fans to St. Cloud on Friday night?

This is a teaser.  It’s ploy to keep you reading.  We were behind at the half – the scoreboard tells me so.  Unfortunately, I have no idea what happened.  Fortunately, the staff photographer was there for coverage.  The game was played Saturday afternoon in Bemidji.    As you will note in the previous post, we were at the winery on Saturday afternoon.  It’s a diversity thing.  There appears to be little doubt that we must have played very well in the second half.

 

 

[This is Greg’s 1st posted photo of the game.  That leads me to suspect he may have been a late arrival.  Bemidji is a long trip in the best of weather.  If you have weather situations – well, the following two photos can explain the en route difficulties:

[It appears Amanda C has just made a free throw.]

[“Everybody run to an open spot!”]

[The Lumberjacks look like they have some “biggies” – Whitney is 6’1″ and looks to be giving away a few inches.]

[A feature of the Bemidji gymnasium is the basketball equivalent of the penalty box.]

[If you hadn’t already noticed, it was “Hoops Against Cancer” night.]

[“I’ll take it from here!”]

[LT, ’nuff said.]

[Emily in the pink.]

[Whitney]

[And Cara, rounding out the three senior tri-captains.]

[“You pass it here, then you pass it there, then you shoot it in the basket.”]

[What’s not to like about pink?]

[“Run that pass, pass, shoot it in play again.”]

[Smiles indicate it’s trending our way.]

[LT’s looking for a crack in the defense.]

[She must have been fouled.]

[I’ve noticed a trend in recent games – they seem to end with Cara at the line.  Good trend.]

[“Start the bus!”]

[Grandparents Trumm were there.]

Four games left in the regular season.  The next two games on the road, the final two at home.  Until then, we continue to receive inquiries from the South about our winter.  Here are four photos from last year around this time – and one taken just today.  Can you identify today’s?

[“Eat your oatmeal!”]