Girls Hockey: Red Wing wins 7th in a row

Red Wing was solidly in control of Thursday’s game at Shakopee before a 3-goal period by the Sabers sent the game into overtime.

After allowing Shakopee back into the game, Wingers’ junior Nicole Schammel capped off a four-goal night with the game-winner with 1 minute, 34 seconds left in overtime for a 5-4 Red Wing victory.

The win was the Wingers’ seventh in a row.

“We were firmly in control going into the third (period) and it kind of got away from us a little bit,” Red Wing head coach Scott Haley said. “It was a good learning experience for us. We were maybe a little too casual with the puck.”

Schammel tallied the Wingers’ first three goals of the game, one on an assist from sophomore Reagan Haley in the first period, to give Red Wing a 1-0 lead. Joelle Lindstrom followed with a goal for Shakopee to make it 1-1 at the end of the first period.

The Wingers (18-1, 5-0 Missota) got three goals in the second period with two by Schammel and the third scored by junior Emily Stegora. Paige Haley and Reagan Haley each notched two assists in the period as Red Wing led 4-1 into the second intermission.

Reagan Haley finished the game with four assists and Paige Haley contributed two assists for the Wingers.

The Sabers’ top two players, Lauren Hespenheide and Amy Menke, took over in the third period. Hespenheide cut the deficit to 4-2 and Menke scored twice, her second goal coming with 3:40 remaining in the third period to tie the game at 3-3.

“They’ve got two Division I kids; they can make you pay,” Scott Haley said of Hespenheide and Menke. “The key was them scoring off the power play early in the third. … I knew we needed to survive the power play.”

Reagan Haley found Schammel again in the overtime period for the Red Wing win.

“In retrospect, yes I’m glad we had to battle for a win, you learn a lot,” Scott Haley said. “However, as a coach it felt like it should have been a 5-1 game. … It was probably the most exciting game of the year from a fan standpoint.”

The second-ranked Wingers host sixth-ranked (1A) New Prague Tuesday at Prairie Island Arena.

Tags: girls hockey, red wing, sports, prep