GHS: Rams Rumble, Stumble
Breck's "44's" strike again
A large part of the Roseau’s hockey community made the trip to the Twin Cities this weekend with the Rams’ girls high school team, the bantam AA team and the peewee AA team all playing games in the Twin Cities. The girls team split two tough games beating Edina 4-3 Friday night and losing to Breck 4-1 Saturday afternoon. The loss to Breck was the first of the season for the Rams (now 5-1).
The Rams’ bantam AA and peewee AA teams had tough times in the cities; the bantams lost to Osseo/Maple Grove 5-2, lost to White Bear Lake 4-3, and lost to Eden Prairie 14-4 in their first three games of the season. The peewee AA’s lost to White Bear Lake 6-1, lost to Eden Prairie 6-3, and lost to St. Louis Park 3-1 in their season’s first weekend of play.
GHS: Breck beats Roseau 4-1
The Rams’ came into the game against Breck unbeaten and holding wins over Minnetonka 3-1 a week earlier and Edina the night before. Breck came to the game also unbeaten and owning wins over Warroad 5-2 the night before and Benilde-St. Margaret’s 4-0 ten days earlier. Breck, continuing to use both of their goaltenders, started junior Jenna Brenneman in the nets. Brenneman had a shutout in her only start of the season (4-0 over St. Paul United). Roseau’s junior goaltender, Jenna Baumgartner, was in the nets for the Rams. Baumgartner had been in the nets the night before stopping 92% of the Hornets shots in the Rams 4-3 victory.
Period 1: Was it a goal?
In the opening minutes of the first period, both teams played each other evenly. Roseau would gain control of the puck in the Mustang’s zone, but were forced to the outside. Breck’s forwards’ speed could beat the Rams defenders to the outside, but would get tied up attacking the Roseau net. The game had settled to a nice flow, both teams moving the puck and making plays. With six minutes gone in the period, Breck drew an interference penalty. And that changed the game.
Grace Zumwinkle scores this first period goal watching the puck trickle behind the goalie and across the line. Rams goalie would grab the puck and drag it back across the line a fraction of a second later.
Breck defenseman Chayenne Harris takes away the Roseau forward's shot by bodying the Ram player's hands.
The Rams on the power play, set up in the Mustangs’ zone and moved the puck tending to attack the lower right side of the Breck goal overloading the center and wing bringing the defense slightly in from the blue line. After two failed attempts to score, the Rams lost control of the puck in the slot area and it was batted forward by Leah Schwartzman to a breaking Grace Zumwinkle. Zumwinkle beat the defense along the left boards making a cut to the net from the low left corner giving her a solo shot at the Rams goal. Zumwinkle skated to the top of the left crease and went for the 5-hole on a short side shot as Ram goalie Baumgartner started to open up to cover the weak side of the net. The puck trickled through Baumgartner’s pads across the blue line. Breck led 1-0. Schwartzman got the assist on the shorthanded goal. The ref made an excellent call on the play.
Breck killed the remainder of the penalty only to draw a second penalty 10 seconds later. The Rams brought pressure on the second power play but could not beat Breck’s goaltender, Jenna Brenneman. Brenneman was making the tough stops, but was also controlling the play in the Mustangs’ zone by the use of her stick and body angles and by setting up the breakout.
Breck goalie Jenna Brenneman sticks the Roseau shot high into the left corner away from the rush. Brenneman stopped 29 of 30 Ram shots in the win.
The game resumed to even play until the two minute mark. Roseau caught a break when a wing and a defenseman collided at the Breck blue line and fell to the ice leaving a loose puck in front of Rams’ Tianna Gunderson. Gunderson soloed down the left slot, made a slight move to the right drawing Baumgartner slightly right, and buried the puck on the open left side to tie the score 1-1 The goal was unassisted. The game remained tie at the end of the first period. The Rams outshot Breck 14-8, but the Mustangs had the edge in play.
Period 2: The “44’s” start to roll.
Breck came out the locker room ready to play. They went after the Rams and for the first three minutes of the second period had the Rams constantly defending in the Roseau zone. The “44’s” scored in the fourth minute of play when Gabby Billing broke free in the lower right side of the zone. Zumwinkle used her speed to catch up to Billing and set up on the weak side left. Billing slowed and hit Zumwinkle with a nice pass that Zumwinkle turned into a goal from the low left crease. Billings and Schwartzman got the assists. Breck led 2-1 with 13 minutes left to play in the second period. The goal turned out to be the game winner.
Breck’s “44” line was started to dominate the game flow on their shifts. At the same time, Roseau’s goalie Baumgartner was stepping up her game. She needed to, for despite two Breck penalties in the second period, Baumgartner saw 21 shots on the net in the period. A Breck penalty with 10 minutes to go in the second period gave Roseau a good shot at tying the game. The Rams got control of the puck in the Mustangs’ zone and tried to feed the slot area for a shot and collapse on the Breck goal. They could not beat the Breck defenders in the resulting melees.
After the power play ended, action returned to an up and down game of transition hockey. Both teams went after each other and the game became wide open. It was Breck who caught the Ram defense playing soft in front of Ram goalie Baumgartner. A pass from the right end boards hit Breck’s Amanda Navratil in the slot. The play caught the Rams defense wide and Navratil quickly hit the back of the net for Breck’s third goal. The Mustangs led 3-1. Cheyenne Harris and Kendall Williamson got the assists.
This scoring attempt by Breck's Amanda Navratil (#16) can be seen hitting the left pipe and bouncing wide. Navratil would score later in the game.
Thirty seconds after scoring their third goal, Breck was called for interference. The Rams went after the power play goal and brought some pressure, but couldn’t score. The period ended 3-1 with Breck leading. Breck outshot the Rams 21-8 in the period despite have two penalties. The Rams did not draw a single penalty in the game.
Period 3: The puck stops
The Rams looked frustrated and tired as the third period opened; the refs looked frustrated as Breck delayed coming on the ice. The refs had Roseau line-up just as the Breck came out of the locker room forcing the Mustangs to line-up immediately. Once the puck was dropped both teams went into high gear, but the Mustangs took the edge off their aggressive play. Roseau didn’t. The Rams bottled Breck up for long periods of game time in the Mustangs’ zone. Both teams played evenly. Breck getting more chances, but Roseau hanging in and creating their own scoring opportunities. In the end, neither team could score until Roseau pulled the goalie with 90 seconds left in the game. Thirty seconds later, a Breck shot on the open net ended up in a dead stop just inside the top of the crease. Zumwinkle beat the Rams defense to the puck for the fourth goal. Breck won 4-1.
Rams' goalie Jenna Baumgartner dives to grab the loose puck in this melee in front of the Rams' net in the third period.
What is Next?
Roseau has two games over the Thanksgiving Holidays. They play at Thief River Falls next Wednesday and play archrival Warroad Saturday. Roseau beat Edina 4-3 at Braemar this past weekend behind Bailey Holter’s scoring. Holter scored twice and assisted on the late third period winning goal. The Roseau/Warroad game is a strong rivalry game between two Northwestern Minnesota hockey powers. Warroad lost to Breck and tied Edina 3-3 last weekend. The Rams will find it tough to win on Warroad's Olympic size sheet, but they best not over look Wednesday's game with Thief River Falls. The Prowlers will not be an easy win for the Rams.
The Prowlers are 5-1 on the season with two big wins of Crookston and Park Rapids last week. This season, Thief River Falls has only lost to Minnetonka 4-0 when Tonka made a swing through Northwestern Minnesota. The Skippers lost to Roseau 3-1 the day after beating the Prowlers. They went on to beat Warroad 7-0 the next day to complete the swing; the Skippers are 6-1 on the season.
Roseau is favored to win their next seven games. That will end when they play in Eden Prairie’s Tourney over the Christmas Holidays. The Rams first game at Eden Prairie is against Chaska/Chanhassen, but the eight team tourney includes Eden Prairie, Wayzata, Eagan, Cretin Derham Hall,and Benilde-St. Margaret’s, all teams that could be top ten ranked at the end of the season. Roseau will be tested.
Breck (6-0) rolled through three tough games this weekend, beating three tough teams, South St. Paul, Warroad, and Roseau. The Mustangs travel to Chaska/Chanhassen for a Tuesday game and then play Edina at Braemar Saturday. The Breck/Edina game is one of three girls high school games to watch this week. Dodge County playing at Hopkins (Minnetonka Arena) and Blake playing Red Wing in Red Wing are two others. These three games will impact sectional seeds next February.
Breck’s line of “44’s” (Grace Zumwinkle, Gabby Billing, and Leah Schwartzman) figured in 10 of the 15 Mustang goals scored in those three games (12 points/10 goals). Sophomore Zumwinkle leads the team in scoring after 6 games with 23 points/13 goals, senior Schwartzman is second with 17 points/6 goals and ninth grader Billing is third with 11 points/4 goals. Mustangs continue to show they are the best team in the state; can the Hornets corral them?