2014-2015 Breck Girls Hockey Team

Breck plays in the Independent Metro Athletic Conference (with Blake, Minnehaha United and St. Paul United) this season.  In opening games last week, the Mustangs beat North St. Paul 8-0 in a non-conference game and St. Paul United 4-0 in their first IMAC game of the 2014-2015 season.  Adding Tuesday’s 4-0 win over the Red Knights and it is easy to see that the Mustang defense will be tough.  But it is the Mustang offense that can really shine behind the play of Grace Zumwinkle.  Last season, Zumwinkle, a ninth grader, led the Mustangs in scoring posting 25 points/15 goals in 25 games last season. This summer she made the HP-15 Minnesota select team attending a national camp for evaluation to play for a USA Hockey team.  She returned to play in the Elite League this fall, but has really found her stride skating with senior Leah Schwartzman and ninth grader Gabby Billings. This season, Zumwinkle is off to a better start than last season with 13 points/5 goals in her first three games.  Senior Leah Schwartzman was Breck’s #3 scorer last season with 22 points/9 goals and understands what it means for a senior to be skating with a ninth grader.  As a ninth grader for Breck in the 2012 Class A State Tourney Championship game, Schwartzman scored the overtime winner to give the Mustangs the title.  She was skating with two seniors that year.

Schwartzman is also off to a better start this season posting 8 points/5 goals in her first two games.  The pair are joined by newcomer to the varsity, Gabby Billing.  A ninth grader, Billing, a YHH 2013 Top 50 peewee A pick from Rogers, posted 6 points/3 goals in her first three varsity games.

Breck’s defensive corps are veterans from last season led by seniors Izzy Gleekel and Claire Mancheski, juniors Sierra Breza and Anna Zumwinkle, and sophomores Nicole Oppenheimer and Eleanor Mancheski.  All played most of the regular season for the Mustang varsity.  

Breck’s goal tenders, Juniors Sydney Scobee and Jenna Brenneman, have yet to give up a goal in their first three games posting 3 shutouts.  The two split the Mustang duties in the net last season.  Last season, Scobee posted a 4-6-1 record giving up an average of 2.8 goals a game while stopping 91% of the shots on net; Brenneman posted a 6-8 record giving up an average of 2.2 goals a game while stopping 94% of the shots on net.  Scobee started Tuesday’s game at the Rec Center.

2014-2015 Benilde-St. Margaret’s Girls Hockey Team

The Red Knights are 1-1 in the early season after losing to Breck Tuesday.  They beat Spring Lake Park 5-2 last week.  Last year’s Class AA State Tourney runner-ups (lost to Hill-Murray 5-1) return a strong defense and a new offensive corps this season.  Benilde lost their top 6 scorers from last year’s state tourney team and with the top scorers leaving, the Red Knights lost 120 goals scored in 25 games.  The new offense is not likely to generate an average of nearly 5 goals a game.

Only two forwards are returning from last season, senior Maggie Conry and junior Julia Stelljes.  Conry has been moved to defense this season.  Sydney Simone and Grace Peluso have been moved up front after playing defense last season.  They are joined by Crystal Sorem, Julia Stelljes, and Gabby Huson.  The defensive core of last year’s team remains intact with senior Alexander Swedberg, junior Heather Mostorm, and sophomore Megan Cornell (2012 YHH Top 50 pick) returning.  They are joined by freshman Megan Truman and sophomore Sedona Brown.  Junior goaltender, Anna DeGiulio has started both games this season.  She posted a 5-0-0 record last season giving up an average 1 goal a game while stopping 94% of the shots on goal.

Benilde’s skaters are likely to float between defense and forward in the early season until the Red Knights figure out where they get their offensive.  Most likely, the defensive corps will be stable.  For the Red Knight defense, the early season is a little like soldiers defending the fort until help arrives.

Game Summary

The opening two periods were cleanly skated considering it was an early season game.  Breck’s Gabby Billing scored late in the first period to put Breck up 1-0 Grace Zumwinkle and Leah Schwartzman getting the assist.  The first 12 minutes of the second period was a repeat of the opening minutes, but as the period progressed, Breck began to build pressure by controlling the puck in the Benilde zone for longer and longer periods of time.  With just under five minutes left in the second period, the Mustangs’ sophomore defense man Nicole Oppenheimer fired a floating shot above the players’ heads at the Benilde goal that somehow was deflected downward as it neared the  net.  The puck ended up hitting the back of the net and bounced out immediately.  It was a goal, but it happened in a quirky way that frustrated the Red Knights.  Abigail Riskevich got the assist.

Zumwinkle put the game out of reach in the first minute of the third period.  Breck opened the third period pressuring Benilde in the Red Knight’s zone.  Zumwinkle, in the slot area, tipped in a puck headed for the net to put Breck up 3-0.  Oppenheimer got the assist.  The Mustang pressure continued and it resulted in another Zumwinkle score eight minutes later.  This time, she beat the defense cutting the right corner, drove the net, and fired the puck through the 5-hole to put Breck up 4-0 and end the scoring.  Anna Zumwinkle got the assist.

Breck has a strong team and has depth in the offensive lines capped by the play of Grace Zumwinkle and her linemates Leah Schwartzman and Gabby Billing.  The line of “44’s” is the frosting on the cake of a tough Mustang team that could be the best team in the state at the end of this season.  Can Class A hockey be stronger than Class AA?  Forget about it!

What is next?

Benilde-St. Maragret’s plays at Dodge County Saturday and it will not be an easy game.  The Wildcats return most of their team including senior Dana Rasmussen, their leading scorer last season with 74 points/48 goals in 25 games and sophomore goaltender Gabby Suhr (20-5-0 giving up 1.8 goals per game while stopping 91% of the shots on goal).  The Red Knights won last season's only meeting beating Dodge 3-2 but will be underdogs at the Dodge County Ice Arena this weekend.  Next week, Benilde continues their travel playing away games with Holy Family/Waconia, Minneapolis, and Holy Angels.

Breck plays three home games this coming week, South St. Paul, Warroad, and Roseau, all top rated teams.  If the Mustangs continue to play as well as they did against Benilde, they should be sweep all three games.  The real challenge for these three teams will be to score a goal.