alexandriacardinals

[Except this time it’s the girls’ hockey team.]

[The gentleman on the left caught us on the way in to the arena last night and chided me for not posting the girls’ basketball game from the night before.  Ever anxious to please, I was up at 2:15 this morning and finished the pum’kin pusher report shortly after 6:00.  Last night was our 4th game in 5 nights – the synapses are getting a tad clogged and probably need a vinegar rinse (did wonders for the coffee maker this morning).  Then I dove headlong (without first checking the depth) into this hockey game report only to realize I had taken over 100 photos and two videos.  I gotta cut back!]

But first the JV game – one must always prepare for the future.  The supervisor and I arrived an hour before the varsity game started, so we got the see the entire 3rd period of the JV game.  However, despite our early arrival, our usual seats were already taken?  Don’t mess with the habits of older people – we then tend to wander around in a perpetual state of bewilderment.  Finally, we settled on some seats off the red-line – would the other Super Fans be able to find us upon their arrival?  We were now invading the parents’ section, though they didn’t seem to mind.

[Lindsey Lien (30), junior, one of our three goalies.]

[Bailey Serum (35), freshman JV goalie]

[Madi Houska (12), junior forward, also plays on the varsity]

[Rachel Drew (4), sophomore forward, expect to see her playing varsity next year.]

[Micaela Swenson (34), freshman forward, a whole career ahead of her.]

[The young’uns:  Taylor Bollman (9), sophomore; Kendra Lien (8), freshman (and Lindsey’s sister); and Rachel.]

[Sara Schmidt, junior forward, small of stature, large of heart.]

[Not competitive.]

This was a statement game.  Our Cardinals were very optimistic about this season – despite an incredibly difficult early season schedule (games 4 – 10, all on the road, against mostly class AA schools).  Our 2nd game was at Detroit Lakes, a team we had easily handled in a pre-season scrimmage – we lost, 4 – 2.  So, the Cards started on a bummer, but are now 6-3 over their last 9 games.  We’re looking good.  We lost by one goal this week at Sartell-Sauk Rapids, a class AA team, and we outplayed them.  We hoped a little “revenge” factor against DL would keep our momentum going.

It was parents’ night.  Rather than the usual parents and daughters on the ice, this year the parents stayed in the stands – with our total lack of winter, nobody’s had any practice walking on ice yet this year!  So the players lined up on the ice, passed a microphone down the line, and each one introduced themselves and their parents – and said things like, “I love you,” and “Thanks for letting me get that tattoo” (OK, I made up that last part).  I will post all the photos here  – mostly for the parents.  (If you want identification, a roster is posted somewhere herein.)

[“Pssst, Sara.”  (I think she heard me.)  🙂 ]

Shortly into the game, we committed a turnover in our own end, their best player soloed in and put in a backhander.  Well, that made us so mad we immediately took back-to-back penalties and found ourselves on the short end of a 5-on-3 power play.  DL scored again!  Ooops!  (I had videoed the 1st 5 minutes of the game as I usually do – I deleted it from the camera because who wants to see the other team score?)

Super Fans Barb and Roger Riley sang the National Anthem:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=my03_fxKkF8 

[Rachael Finley (15), captain, senior forward]

[Kalley Kragenbring (10), sophomore forward]

[Alia Kopischke (13), captain senior forward]

[Heather Hvezda (22), senior defense]

[Shanee’ Herd (40), junior defense]

[Stephanie Drown (1), senior goalie]

[Greg Trumm, super senior staff photographer – bookended by Shelby’s folks, who no doubt explained what the different colored lines on the ice are all about.]

[Becca Illies (37), junior forward; and Taylor Ellingson (24), sophomore defense]

[Shelby Iverson (38), junior forward; and Becca, swooping in on net.]

[

[Quinn Kragenbring (20), senior forward; and Danielle Carlson (36), junior forward]

[Kalley]

From that point on, I thought the team skated better than at any time over the past two seasons (there may be several reasons for this that will be enumerated as we roll along).  We caught the Lakers by the end of the 1st period and were totally controlling the game.  Here’s where your reporter will have to admit to certain gaps in the ole memory files – I don’t remember who scored our goals?  (Back in the good ole days (a couple of years ago?), I could come home from a 10-0 game, remember who scored every goal, and in what sequence!)

The video from the start of the 2nd period.  We scored a goal during video.  I somehow missed it – pathetic!  I think Kalley got it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6665JVeK9uc

[The cheering you hear in the background (some would say shrieking, but that would be imprudent of me) is from the supervisor.  We both awoke with sore throats today.]

[Though not big, Kalley’s game is like a pass rushing defensive tackle – get out of my way or I’ll run you over!]

[The were some recent line changes to check different combinations.  Here Kalley is centering Rachael.  They were on different lines before with Rachael as a center and Kally as a wing.  Seems to be working so far.  🙂  ]

[Britni DelCastillo (14), sophomore forward – careful, Brit!]

[Brit and Becca break out.]

[Quinn]

[Rachael and Shanee’]

[Alia, probably our best stickhandler and shiftiest skater.  Made several nice forays through the enemy defense – and scored the one goal I do remember.  I think it was the last goal of the game – she zig-zagged between several players and put a wrist shot in the upper right corner.  Just a beautiful goal.]

[Shanee’]

[Shelby, Becca, and Brit on the attack.]

[It appears to be a GOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLLLL!]

[There is no hugging in hockey!  To do so is a 10-minute major misconduct penalty.  Unless, of course, it’s after a goal.  Then you can hug.  For a little bit.]

[Quinn applying pressure.]

[It’s not unusual for a head to pop up when there’s a flurry at the goal mouth.]

[The score after the 2nd period.  Still close, but we’re well in command.  I predicted an 8-3 final at the time.  We were wearing them down.]

[This was Val’s first hockey game, ever.  It was Greg’s first girls’ hockey game, ever.  They liked it.  And when I said we would enumerate factors that led to the Cards’ well-played game?  Well, this is one of them.  The Trumms now must attend all hockey games for good luck.  Also, the team is now 2-0 when Barb and Roger sing the anthem – get used to them doing it!  And three, the Super Fans changed seating positions, if not by choice.]

[Another flurry – DL’s freshman goalie played very well.  (For what it’s worth, the supervisor noticed that both their goalies are “Veronica.”]

[Kalley unleashes a slapper.]

[Alia on a rush.]

[Kalley again]

[Melissa Drown (6?), sophomore forward]

[Looks like another GOOOOAAAAAALLLLLL!]

[Let the hugging begin!]

[Game over – hugging encouraged.]

[For Jack Jablonski]

[Pizza in the Warming House after the game – anthem singer, Roger Riley, in the hat.]

[This is Chris Kragenbring.  She is Quinn’s and Kalley’s mom.  She is a high school English teacher.  She uses the blog as an example of “how not to.”  I do not charge for this service.  (Thanks again Chris for the chili feed tickets.  The supervisor will “get you back” at the silent auction.)]

Just for fun.  The HQ was never, ever a sports fan.  But now in her grandmotherliness, she has discovered that all grandkids in Minnesota play hockey.  So, now she lives at the rink – and apparently is starting to like (?) it.  This weekend grandson Willy’s Minnetonka Pee Wee team played in Sartell.  The HQ went along to visit old haunts at SCSU – and filed this report:

Pee Wee C Hockey Report:

1st game Mtka 10, Hudson 0

then toured St Cloud visiting grandparents houses and environs lunch at DB Searles

2nd game Mtka 9, Sartell 4

3rd game will be tomorrow at 12:30…I have a date with a horse but Will is going up to cheer.

Met your (Alex) city attorney (retired)…live on Latoka, forgot their names, good friend of Bill Grove…..anyway, they have a grandson on Willy’s team 🙂

end of report [And of mine as well]

[And some days you have to feature the cheerleaders! 🙂 ]

[Not to worry – we did win.]

It was the Cardinals v. the Cardinals.  Alexandria v. Willmar.  A traditional rivalry.  I should have taken that into consideration.  I thought it would be an easy (well, relatively easy) win for us.  We were still playing without starting center, Kalli Bowser, but that didn’t slow us down in the previous game versus Tech.  She would have been a big help in this game.  (Kalli was in uniform and went through warm-ups wearing a protective mask.  She did not play.  I don’t think I’d play her in the next two games either.  That would give her 10 more days of healing before the Fergus game.)

[The JV game]

[Band]

[Emily Thul]

[Posing.   Yeah, they knew.]

[Alyssa Freiderich, 5’11” sophomore]

[Emily inbounding]

[“Say, is that Kim Kardashian?”]

[Karly Betterman]

[Kendra Holm escorts the coaching staff.]

I thought our athleticism would carry the day – and I thought we had a big advantage in that regard.  The one thing I should remember in girls’ basketball -if a player isn’t (or doesn’t appear to be) very athletic, chances are pretty good she can shoot lights out.  This was a game of our steals leading to lay-ups versus Willmar’s hardly ever missing a shot, particularly 3’s!

[Band II (pretty much the same group as at the JV game)]

[Believed to be the only ones there as fans of a referee.]

[Whitney . . . and someone’s ponytail]

[Kalli trying out the protective mask in warm-ups.]

[The original Super Fans!]

[“Did you see Kim Kardashian?”]

[“No, where was she?”]

[“There she goes!”]

[Abby Hlinsky (I believe?), 5’7″ junior]

[The Perimeter]

[Band III, w/company]

[The Competition]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pw6nDUAoA0w  (Game opening video)

The game started with us making two unforced turnovers and then shooting an air ball (you may hear commentary to that affect in the opening of the video).  We all have days like that – Tuesday morning I made four attempts to leave the house for a meeting before  finally “remembering” everything I needed.  The game was close throughout, though we kept waiting for that Cardinal spurt that would put the game away.  On this night, the spurt never came.  Several times we built the lead to 7, but that’s as far as we could distance ourselves.  A stretch midway through the 2nd half defined the whole game.  LT made 3 steals in a row and went in for lay-ups, stretching our lead to 7.  Finally, we thought – here we go!  Willmar came back and hit two 3’s in a row and suddenly the lead was back to 1 again.  Give Willmar credit – I don’t know how they did it for even when we had them in a double-team trap, their player would make a move under duress, and going sideways and shooting off the wrong foot, throw in another 3.  It was remindful of the opening game against DL  Their shooting percentage had to be phenomenal – ours not so good, except for all the steals that lead to lay-ups.

[LT, doing her thing!]

[3-on-1, Willmar’s probably in trouble!]

[Whitney sinks a free throw.]

[LT’s immediate fan club.]

[Kendra, keeping an eye on the store.  Her grandpa, El, made his first appearance for this game – good to have him back!]

[Cara]

[R-E-B-O-U-N-D]

[More competition]

[LT on the line]

[Amanda C]

[The competition, again – shooting the student section for the school?]

[LT – looks good?]

[Dani tickles the twine]

[Both times!]

[Cara – dunno?]

[We won!]

[The staff photographer comes down for his internationally-renowned player-of-the-game coverage.  Kohler exits, stage left.]

[Dani was player-of-the-game.  I then turned coverage over to the pro.]

For whatever reason, the midcourt stands were already full when we arrived halfway through the JV game (we won, also close all the way).  Thus, the Super Fan contingent was split up all over the south stands.  So, we could not enjoy a collective WOW for the game’s final play.  Our Cards were ahead by 2 points with less than 10 seconds to play.  We took the ball out under our own basket and, of course, Willmar was deploying a full court press to either prevent us from inbounding or to foul immediately.  We ran the wheel play – again!  Some of the Super Fans had never seen it before and couldn’t believe it.  LT faked in, then spun around off a screen and sped downcourt – she was wide open and Angela C hit her with a beautiful 50-yard TD pass that LT converted into an uncontested lay-up.  We did not contest Willmar’s final score at the buzzer.  A win is a win.

[And we’ll end with them, too.  (By the staff photographer on the other side of the court, obviously.)  🙂 ]

And now, by popular demand, even more from the Trumm Files:

[Karly in the JV game]

[Even more competition?  I think we should check his credentials!  At least he keeps good company.]

[Super Fans]

[Amanda G]

[“Was Kim Kardashian on the other side of the gym?”]

[“I have reason to believe the Kardashian sighting was merely a rumor.”]

[“Was it Elvis then?”]

[The Willmar center – her free throws were so good I don’t think they ever touched the rim – swish, swish, swish.]

[LT – good rebounding is also part of her repertoire.]

[AC]

[Kohler’s team in the new high school.]

[LT bolts to daylight – back wash from her sprint overturns popcorn boxes in the first three rows.]

[Madcap zanies]

[Nice shot, Greg!  The referee,  incidentally, is the progeny of locally-famous vocalists.]

[More competition – and with a white lens!]

[I still think they should make The Dave Clark Five’s Catch Us If You Can the team’s theme song.]

[As previously noted, Dani was player-of-the-game.]

And Kalli gave an update on her recovery progress:

[* Because, like Sherwin-Williams, we cover the Earth.]

But first, apologies.  I forgot to include the following in the previous blog post.  We learned from an incontrovertible source that Jamie Piepenburg, a/k/a, “The Peeper” (to certain Super Fans), has signed with the University of Minnesota where she will compete in track and cross-country.  Because such activities at a Division-1 level university will hardly occupy any of her time, she has decided to enter pre-med to help keep herself busy.  Alexandria’s loss is the U’s gain – congratulations, Jamie!

[From somewhere else – The Echo?]

So, the game.  We beat Sartell, 2-1.  But we sensed from the beginning things were not going to go smoothly.  We had to walk down a muddy road, with mud puddles, to the arena, and inside the rink was colder than it was outside (see report on The Weather, below).  Then, due to technical difficulties, the National Anthem could not be played.  Finally, the crowd spontaneously broke into an a cappella version – as it neared conclusion, the Alex and the Sartell fans realized they were on different verses, but finally came together at the end for a rousing crescendo.

[Junior goalie, Ben Allen, was introduced.]

[Then, the starters.]

[Then the team assembled for what eventually became the anthem.]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0dvfrZZnoM  (Video of game’s 1st 5 minutes)

[Ben’s ready – we have been hearing good reports about his ‘tending all year.]

[Kevin Finley (16), sophomore defense – see report on his big sister, Rachael, below.]

[Jacob Hennessy (28), senior forward]

[Tom Schmidt (19), junior forward]

[Andrew Rentschler (12), sophomore defense]

[ONE shot in the first period was disturbing.  That hastened our decision to leave after the 2nd period (I think Sartell had the worst record in the conference).  It was “date night” after all, we had been advised earlier that we had won a bottle of wine at SAWA, Kevin Klimek was playing, and the supervisor was getting hungry.]

[Realizing the 2nd would be our last period, I began firing shots with wild abandon.  I believe I had my best game ever as a hockey photographer.  🙂  I hope to carry that momentum forward into the girls game on Saturday.]

[Jordan Domine (27), senior forward, fires a slapshot.]

[The Super Fans sponsor a Puck Shoot.  Couple years ago I missed the $100 by about 2 inches right.]

[Vinnie and staff try to figure out why the anthem couldn’t be played.  Roger and Dusty are going to have to be available for all games!]

[Garrett Skinner (17), senior defense, and Charlie Wensman (36), senior forward.]

[Garrett’s probably our most versatile player.  Switched to defense this year to help out the younger guys back there.  Still centers the power play.]

[Bryce Miller (3), senior forward, and Brock Wood (21), senior forward]

[Aaron Steidl (38), sophomore defense]

AND THE WINNER IS:

[Yup, I got a goal!  I could sense it coming when Jack Wensman (8), junior forward, got the puck in the slot.  He shot it before he went down – you can see the puck in the upper left hand corner of the net.  That was the only goal when we left at the end of the 2nd period – Cards up 1-0.]

[Matt Resch (9), sophomore forward]

And there were competing, simultaneous events last night.  Four sources reported essentially the same thing (ergo, it must be true!) about the boys’ basketball team home loss in OT to Sauk Rapids – we couldn’t get the ball into our big guys!

And two unimpeachable sources reported the same thing about our hockey girls 4-3 loss at Sartell-Sauk Rapids (another class AA team) last night.  The Stormin’ Sabres scored three power play goals, that, according to our sources, were dubious calls at best.  The preferential (?) calls for the home team may have something to do with the fact (?) that the Stormin’ Sabres are one of the few teams to have their team photo posted in the Minneapolis StarTribune high school sports website.  Anyway, as you may recall, we lost to them at home early in the season by, I believe, a 6-2 score.  They only have one conference loss.  We outshot them 40-32 at their place.  That’s a good sign that the team is continuing to improve.  Rachael Finley had two goals and Shanee’ Herd had the other.  We look forward to the home game against Detroit Lakes on Saturday – seems like a long time since we’ve had a home game.

Bonus Coverage – The Weather

It’s become too crazy to not provide fair and balanced coverage.  Yesterday’s 54 degree high broke the old record for January 5 . . . by 16 degrees!  This phenomenon was of such import, we hired a professional male model for the following display (who knows what the thermometer would have read if I hadn’t forgotten to check it when it was in the sun?):

The only thing wrong with this pic was the guy! ~ Cactus Bob

Amazing.  I saw some TV news last week that showed people in MN playing golf, not sure which city. ~ Fitzie (in D.C.)

Your weather is taking all of the fun out of being a Snow Bird! ~ Arizona Loren

Big deal. We beat you by 17 degrees.  Neener neener neeener.  ~ Crazy Dave (in Sarasota) [Editor’s note:  Some day he’s going to have to define, “neener neener neener?”]

Who says Global Warming doesn’t exist? The weather has been beautiful here. Dan and I have been going for nice walks in the park and our neighborhood without freezing our A————-es off. Last year we had ice and snow. So far, so good. As for wearing shorts, you’ll do anything to show off your legs and tight little bum. ~ Carolyn, in Indiana (OK, she’s my sister-in-law, so is granted certain literary license.)

Weather stories from the Strib:

http://www.startribune.com/local/136783918.html

http://www.startribune.com/nation/136767618.html

Amazingly, fish houses on beautiful Lake Darling are still standing?

Then on the way home from the gym this morning, I caught the national symbol catching rays (sorry, didn’t have the big lens camera with me).

The above and the following were along West Lake Cowdry Road.

Finally, it appears this will be the first year that the supervisor starts her flower gardens in January?

Just for fun, Basketball Dan was in Ensenada, Mexico, on December 28 – his view out of his B&B.

And Al Grundei submitted the Alex Golf Club in 1932.

So, the first thing we heard from fellow fans when we got to the gym last night was that Kalli wouldn’t be playing.  Kalli Bowser, our starting center, had apparently been really sick, fainted, fell and broke her nose in two places!  Yikes!  The good news was at least she was on the bench for her teammates, but we don’t know how long she’ll be out.  Our next game is at home against Willmar on Friday, then two more home games next Tuesday and Thursday.  I would doubt Kalli will be able to play in any of those games.  (As player-of-the-game against Moorhead she mentioned she was already looking forward to the Fergus game on the 17th.  Maybe with a mask?)

Injuries are a great equalizer, of course, and determinative of how well any team is going to fare over the course of a season.  Our only loss this year was the first game when starting point guard Cara Wood was out with a sprained ankle.

And here came the tough St. Cloud Tech Tigers.  I recall last year they gave us our physically most draining game – our team was spent at the end.  They have good athletes and were able to pressure us the entire game.  This year they came within 6 points of 2nd-ranked in the state and undefeated Fergus, and recently beat Sartell by 9.

Meanwhile, back at the game.   Dani Strater started in Kalli’s spot – so we had four 5’9″ players and 6’1″ Whitney.  The Tigers had two players taller than Whitney.  As usual, I videoed the first 5 minutes of the game because we generally start fast with our pressure.  We were a little shaky at the beginning – but you can see Tech had something to do with that (and you get to hear the band!):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=555jSR0B5KA

[LT warms up – on her way to a 32-point game!]

[Amanda and LT discuss strategy.]

[Cara]

[Dani, on the right]

[Point guards of the future:  Karly Betterman (l) had just led the JV’s to a 44-25 win; Jess Syvrud (r) currently backs up Cara.]

[Whitney]

[Amanda]

[Band]

[Do you ever shop at the Byerly’s there in downtown St. Cloud?]

[They have really good bread!!]

[Meanwhile, back at warm-ups.]

[Cheerleaders 🙂 ]

[LT makes a first half free throw.]

With maybe 5 minutes left in the first half, the Tigers led 30 – 24.  They have a little gym rat (in the fondest sense) point guard who is one of the few players we’ve seen who can penetrate our 1-3-1 defense by whipping passes into the post (fortunately, she tries to make every pass an ESPN highlight, so they often went astray as well).  They also had three players who could hit the 3, so it looked like it was going to be a hard fought battle.  Then the Cards displayed what Clark Kellogg would call our spurtability – we finished the half on a 13 – 0 spurt . . . and the Tigers knew they were finished.

That great play continued through the 2nd half – the Cards working to perfection all the plays that got them into the state tournament last year.  The wheel route whenever they were pressed full court – LT fakes in, then heads long and no one can run with her as she reels in length of the court passes for lay-ups.  They also worked several backdoor passes to perfection – Cara was often the recipient of those.  Cara had by far her best game of the year (shaking any residual concerns about her ankle) – she’s becoming more aggressive offensively, with 13 points, and she did a terrific job rebounding at the back of the 1-3-1.

Sometimes adversity yields opportunity.  While watching warm-ups, Super Fan Ruth Anderson noted she had just seen Amanda Gould make 5-6 shots in a row from 15 feet on the right baseline.  Amanda is a 5’11” sophomore star on the JV team but seldom gets in for varsity games.  On this night her size made her an option.  Dani battled valiantly underneath at 5’9″ but got into some foul trouble.  Amanda (I guess we’re going to have call her Amanda G so not to be confused with Amanda C) spelled her – and scored 9 points, all in the 1st half!  Since she had played the preceding JV game as well, we have to assume she really slept well last night.

Whitney was a force on the defensive wing again – it seemed she scored more than the listed four points, but they were key mid-range jumpers in the 2nd half as we continued to pull away.  Amanda C again did a little bit of everything – scoring, rebounding, stealing, and assisting.

And then there’s Ms. Trumm.  You never realize how many points she has because it’s always in the flow of the game – she never forces anything.  But if they’re keeping track of fastbreak lay-ups, she must certainly be head and shoulders above all comers.  LT can best be explained by her actions late in the game when the outcome was no longer in doubt – she got yet another deflection, then dove on the floor after it.  I get tired just watching her.

[2nd half warm-ups – “We’re rolling now!”]

[Ms. Gould is No. 55.]

[Her big debut earned media coverage.]

[I didn’t realize until processing that Kalli was in this picture (seated).  Here’s wishing her a speedy recovery!]

[“Go, go, go!”]

[“Let’s bring it on home, ladies!”]

[Amanda C]

[LT]

[LT scores her 29th]

[Cara]

[Until next time.]

Bonus Coverage (i.e., the other side of the court) from the staff photographer (a/k/a, LT’s dad) of the holiday tournament:

[As alums from last year’s team, Brianna Ebert and Sam Trumm were able to command an entire section for the Moorhead game.]

[There are several people of note here and one guy who needs a nap.]

[Known for their abilities On Frozen Pond.]

[“Spuds?  Really?”]

[Past and current Cardinals reunite.  The most athletic talent in one place since the last time Al Grundei golfed alone.]

The Cards, as good hosts should, greet the guesting Spuds – and then gather to talk about the “menu”:

[Dani on D]

[Cara]

[Dani]

The Alexandria Aces

Meanwhile, back at the game . . .

[Kalli and Spuds]

[The future:  Karly and Jess]

[Jess]

[“Congratulations, we won!”]

Kalli was player-of-the-game:

The Robbinsdale Armstrong game:

[All-tournament team (from what would be my best side).]

Amanda C was player-of-the-game:

[We’re 8-1 now and enjoying the heck out of it!]