alexandriacardinals

Well, another year has gone by . . . and another set of kits we helped raise from pups are ready to leave the nest.  Mixed metaphor aside, we hope we have helped support them well enough to thrive beyond the friendly confines of the RCC.  And it is always with a touch of sadness that we have to say good-bye to the seniors.  But we wish you all well, and thank you for the countless hours of $2/game entertainment you have provided for we “seniors,” who would rather not sit home at night performing foot maintenance and other such daunting tasks.

Oh, there was a game this Tuesday night,  against Wadena-Deer Creek-Long Prairie, which I believe is a relatively new conglomeration.  There was no doubt as to the outcome, but it is the kind of game the Blue Devils need to play to help develop their program.

[This is the score of the JV game.  Yes, their goalie did have a heckuva game.]

[I was there plenty early as I came directly from “senior” college.  Yes, one is never to old to learn something new.  The only problem is the old brain has run out of file space, so to save something new, one has to jettison something old, like . . . where did I park the car? So, here’s an opportunity to feature some players who hope to play varisty next year, such as Trihanna Olson (14), junior center.]

[And Ashton Oberg (3), sophomore forward, and Megan Pesta (8), sophomore forward.]

[A dual entry for Jade Bollman (9), sophomore forward, who like so many appears to enjoy snacking on her mouthpiece.]

[McKenna Schroeder (28), junior forward, who also plays with the varsity.]

[And again.]

[And a shot!]

[Jade again, trying to keep that pesky puck in tow.]

[And Trihanna with a shot.]

[A Cardinal who has skillfully shielded her number from view.]

[Kaia Illies (13), sophomore forward, has the Blue Devils at a 1-on-4 disadvantage.]

[She’s still in hot pursuit.]

[And appears to have been successful.]

[April Jost (5), sophomore forward, launches a shot.]

[And we wrap up the JV game with a parting shot of Jade.]

The Varsity Game:  The 6-Minute Hat Trick

[The game was preceded by an introduction of the five seniors.]

[This is Marisa Larson.  As in previous years, the players were backlit as their hockey histories, from their parents, were read.  As in previous years, we camera types all complained about the impossibilities of getting photos during the event.  I got a couple that were passable – and apologies for not being able to get all the players.  Again, for the future, we’d like to request the spotlight be moved to the fan side of the arena . . . or just leave the lights up.]

[Bailey Serum with her folks.]

[Nicole Bartels with her dad.  And that’s the best I could do.]

[The Warming House]

[Lights back up, Nicole hugs her mom.]

[Don’t know her, but she responded to my photo request.  Great smile!  🙂  ]

[I believe Little Rev has now become “The Rev.”]

[So, do you guys come via Wadena . . . or Long Prairie?]

[A breed apart, nobody knows what goalies talk about?  On senior night, it was Bailey’s (35) turn in goal.  Amy Jost (33) is probably just reminding her to duck on the high shots.]

[Let’s play hockey!]

[And the Cardinals immediately began scoring goals.  Hanah Hansen (11) had a hat trick before the game was 6 minutes old.  Coach Hovel tossed his hat on the ice.  Unfortunately, it was not a natural hat trick as her teammate, Micaela Swenson (34), one of the seniors, also scored a goal between Hanah’s 2nd and 3rd goals.]

[The rest of this missive will generally consist solely of post-goal congratulatory hugs and skating to the bench for fist bumps.]

[Micaela got a second goal in the period, and Mari Wosepka (18) got a goal.]

[Alexis Heckert (20) and Micaela perform a synchronized swimming maneuver.]

[Allison O’Kane (36), freshman defense, slaps one from the blue line.]

[A goalie alone with her thoughts . . . with the president of the Bailey Serum fan club providing support behind her.]

[My guess is this was Micaela’s 2nd goal.]

[And this is likely Mari’s goal.  You gotta be tough as goalie in a game like this . . . and they probably all go through it at one time or another.]

[And this was the end of period 1.  The shot totals were surprisingly not as lopsided as the score.]

[In the 2nd period, we celebrated goals from Karina Carlsen (31), junior defense; Mari, her 2nd; Nicole (23); and McKenna Ellingson (24), 8th-grade forward.]

[In the 3rd period, Nicole got two more goals to complete her hat trick!  Just the kind of game a team that’s had some troubles scoring goals needs!  🙂  ]

[Bailey goes out with a win on what may be her last game at the RCC.  Thanks again to her and all the seniors.]

When everything is coming your way, you’re in the wrong lane.  ~  Steven Wright

Up next:  Another hockey doubleheader preceded by “senior” college again.  This is all getting to be like a full-time job?

[Always delighted when the group comes to pay us a visit.  All are from St. Cloud but Jill, who lives in Little Falls, so we only get a chance to see them a couples times a year.  This was at the winery on Saturday.]

[A new addition to Harper’s Chord.  They always wanted to add a bass player . . . so they did!  This is Micah Barrett in his first performance with the group.  Adds a new dimension!  🙂   ]

[Paul Drinkwine . . . you’ll notice his steel guitar slide is a copper plumbing fixture.  Ha!]

[Roger Fink]

[Jill Moore]

An original song from Paul:

[Roger continued]

[When he tires of the guitar.]

[When he tires of the electric bass.]

A nice extended version to display their versatility:

[When Jill adds percussion.]

[When he tires of the guitar and the cello.]

[This may have been his original song, “Bluegrass.”]

[When Roger tires of the guitar.]

Their signature song and title of their CD:

[The Harper’s Chord fan club came camouflaged as much younger people, which aroused the suspicions of NSA, TSA, CIA, FBI, and Bloomingdale’s credit department!]

[Closing with Paul and his “little cello.”]

 I’d love to kiss you, but I just washed my hair.  ~  Bette Davis (in Cabin in the Cotton)

Up next:  I believe girls’ hockey senior night.

But it was sure fun while it lasted!

[The boys’ hockey team hosted Fergus Falls on Thursday.  The Cards came into the game with a 15-0-1 record.  A record crowd was on hand – seemed like standing room only.  Lots of Fergus fans in the center section – we jokingly (sort of – ha!) told them center ice was for the home fans, harummphhh.  My friend John from Ashby, making his first visit to the RCC, had a hard time finding us.  Anyway, the Otters only had 4 losses themselves, and we had beaten them by only one goal at their place so it figured to be a tough game.  And some times all good things must come to an end.  We had the better of the play (actual shots on goal were 43 – 23), but the Otters had the better of the bounces.  All of their goals came from long shots that deflected of people, places, and things and some how found their way into our goal.  Stuff happens!  We did get Ryan Marciniak (20) back, but Mack Strong (16) apparently is still a week away.  Time to get healthy for the playoffs.]

[Two days before the game, ominously like London over beautiful Lake Darling.]

[But hey, the JV won and looked pretty good doing so.]

[So, how’s everything in Fergus?   You guys have a good trip down?  We won the toss?  We’ll receive and defend the South goal.]

[And here comes Alec Wosepka (8) . . . ]

[And again.]

[Jack Steffl (2) on the draw.]

[Mayhem abounds . . . it’s hockey!]

[Find the Cardinal?]

[Eli Heckert (27) and Wosepka coming into center ice . . .]

[With Alex carrying it into the Otters zone.]

[Appears to be Nick Partington (26) backing on defense with Chase Nielson (10).]

[Cammeran Brown (21) and friend on the attack.]

[A good scoring attempt from Brown, Wosepka, and likely Zach Johnson behind the goal.]

[But the slippery puck makes another getaway with Chase in pursuit.]

[Alec on offense again.]

[Now this is a hockey picture, if I do say so myself.  Parker Revering (3), back defending the blue line, while teammates try to get something past the dastardly Otter goalie!]

[And yet another ‘find the Cardinal’ photo?]

[The Otters held a 1 – 0 lead after one period.  Now in the 2nd, Steffl lead the Cards in.]

[There’s something’s happening here.   What it is ain’t exactly clear.]

[Woo-woo!  Cards tie it up.  Micah Christenson (39), from Johnson and Partington.]

[Chris Canavati (11)]

[Partington, Brown, and Chris Leary (18) on the offensive.]

[And now Nielson and Heckert.]

[Micah looking for a 2nd goal.]

[GOOOAAALLLL!  This time Zach, from Parker and Nick.  This tied it at 2, as the Otters got a goal in between,]

[And a better look at it from close up.]

[Heckert with a slapshot.]

[Zach and Marciniak (20) on offense.]

[Dunno who, but looks like he got something on it!  🙂    ]

[And the puck somehow manages to elude the Otter goal again, despite the best efforts of Marciniak . . .]

[And Revering.]

[And Wosepka.]

[Yup, they scored again after we did, so we’re back to being down one goal after two periods.  Put this up to show we had a 2 – 1 shot advantage at this time.]

[Final period, go get ’em boys!]

[And we did!  GOOOOAAAALLLL!  This one by Leary, assisted by Brown and Lukas Bigger (27).]

[But wouldn’t you know, the Otters scored on another long deflection to take the lead again, 4 – 3 . . .]

[And despite some good efforts, that’s the way the game ended.  Now let’s heal all wounds and finish the season on an uptick.]

[A Toast to the Streak!]

[You will note from the following post we spent Saturday afternoon at the winery with Harper’s Chord.  I intended to leave early because we had a girl/boy hockey doubleheader at the RCC against Bemidji.  But we were  having such a good time, I didn’t get to hockey until the girls were about to start the 3rd period.  Bemidji scored in the 1st 20 seconds of the game, and that 1 – 0 lead held up the entire game.  Both the girls and the boys were playing their 4th game of the week.  The girls had won the first 3, setting up a strong possibility of being the No. 1 in the section.  Bemidji is a class AA team in a different section, so the game really didn’t mean that much.  And that’s kind of how it appeared from the play.  We had 3 players held out for precautionary reasons to make sure they’re healthy for the sections.]

[We called a timeout – to get some rest and try to make a push for a tying goal.  It just wasn’t to be.]

[As Kristin Trosvig (15) skates into the corner, we look forward to senior night on Tuesday.]

[Our “goal” light on the scoreboard didn’t appear to be working.  The boys didn’t need it either.  They were in the same situation as the girls, and when Bemidji scored on their 1st two shots of the game it appeared it wasn’t going to be good.  And after an early 7 – 0 shot deficit, the Cards kicked it gear and the game was evenly played the rest of the way.  The Lumberjacks got a wrap around goal in the third that we should have prevented and then scored again late in the game for a 4 – 0 win.  Now, also, get everyone healthy for sections.]

Cloud nine gets all the publicity, but cloud eight actually is cheaper, less crowded, and has a better view.  ~  George Carlin

Up next:  A musical interlude.

[OK, what’s up with that (I hear you say)?  Well, with a little slight of hand – some legerdemain, so to speak (though at no time did my fingers leave my hand) – I give you the JV score first.  Nice game by JVers – and they have a pretty darn good record, though I don’t remember what it is.  But from the subject line, you know the “guests” are the Willmar Cardinals, a make-up game on Martin Luther King, Jr.’s holiday.]

[So, a little JV action for grandma and grandpa snowbirding in Florida, here’s Jade Bollman (9), sophomore forward.]

[And a close-up view for far flung relatives.]

[Still got Jade, a legacy (sister(s) played before her).]

[Sarah Finley (1), sophomore goalie.  You can tell she’s the goalie by all the extra equipment she wears and the fact that she’s stationed in the goal.  Hard to get anything by you guys.  Oh, she’s also a legacy.]

[Onna O’Connor (32), sophomore forward, beginning of a legacy – two younger sisters in the pipeline.]

[Kaia Illies (13), sophomore forward, and a double legacy.]

[On to the varsity game, if they’re not in the top photo, they’re in the bottom one.  But I’m not going to look for them.]

[Going into the game, the CARDINALS and the Cardinals were tied for 3rd place in the conference, though I seem to recall we beat them at their place.  We’ve kinda gone back to the start-of-the-year line arrangements.  The long-time defense pair of Lauren Niska (21), junior, and McKenzie Revering (29), sophomore, are back on the front line again.  Little Rev on the opening face-off here with Kristin Trosvig (15), freshman forward.  Hard to believe this is the first home game since December 9?]

[Early on, Alexis Heckert (20), 8th-grade forward, scored her first ever varsity goal (from Mari Wosepka (18), junior forward, and singer of the game’s National Anthem).  The puck was promptly delivered to the bench by a teammate.]

[Sam Klimek (37), junior forward, and McKenna Ellingson (24), I believe, 8th-grade forward.]

[Sam (?) heading off on a line change.]

[Lauren into the zone.  Our Cards, as a team, buzzed early and often.]

[Lauren, Kristin, and Nicole Bartels (23), senior defense, in on goal.]

[Alexis is fired up after her goal.]

[Here we come again.]

[Lest you couldn’t see the previous picture that clearly.]

[McKenna just misses a rolling puck.]

[And we have a face-off between a Cardinal and a . . . disappearing CARDINAL.]

[With Karina Carlsen (31), junior defense (yes, she was playing forward for a while), on the blue line, as McKenna screams, “I have an open net in front of me!”]

[We led 1 – 0 after one, then the “real” game began.  The CARDINALS for the 2025 season and beyond took the ice.  The coaching staff was delighted to see the upcoming talent. Hope I’m around to see them too!  😉  ]

[Here we come again in the 2nd period.]

[McKenna . . . for her grandpa, who is not a snowbird.  I should point out there was an Ellingson, also No. 24, in the future CARDINALS game . . . and darned if I didn’t think to get a picture of them skating off the ice together.  Some kind of reporter . . .]

[I’m guessing that’s Little Rev swooping in on her backhand . . .]

[And crashing the net.]

[And we’re celebrating a goal . . . by Alexis!!!  Her first two goals ever come back-to-back, this on a power play with an assist to Allison O’Kane (36), freshman defense.  Not knowing who got the goal, I got McKenna and Nicole heading for the bench fist bumps?]    ]

[Sam and Kaila Dewanz (7), senior forward, trying to get in the offensive zone.]

[Whooaaaa, and another goal!  Hanah Hansen (11), junior forward, from Nicole, less than a minute after the Cardinals scored.  Our CARDINALS now lead 3 – 1.]

[Sam chases a loose puck.  That’s not meant to be derogatory about the puck’s morals.]

[Sam’s in on goal . . .]

[McKenna crashes the party . . . ]

[Lauren and Kristin are right there . . . ]

[Ohhh, and it got away!]

[Kaitlin Leary (26), sophomore defense, protects center ice as the CARDS close period 2 with a 3 – 1 lead.]

[Shortly into the 3rd period . . . GOOOOOAAAALLLL, by Lauren on a nifty backhand (from Nicole), deflating any comeback hopes the Cardinals may have had.]

[Let’s celebrate that!]

[Here comes Rev . . .]

[She had several good scoring chances again, but . . .]

[Peppering the Willmar goalie.]

[And Kristin scored on a power play, from Lauren and Hanah.]

[Here comes Rev on a mission . . . ]

[In on the goalie, she shoots . . . ]

[And scores!!!  An unassisted goal to end the evening’s scoring parade.]

[The CARDINALS biggest goal output of the season – good to see.  The shots on goal are a deceiving stat in this instance – our CARDINALS had many more ‘shots’ and controlled play throughout.  And Bailey Serum (35), senior goalie, was a rock in the net all night.]

p.s.  Did I mention puddles?  It’s late January, we have no snow, and the parking lot at the hockey arena has . . . puddles!  Puddles and mud!  Some kinda weird winter.

No one knows what’s next, but everybody does it.  ~  George Carlin

Up next:  It’s hockey all week, folks.