Hockey roundup: Alex slows down Willmar, 3-1

Michael Lyne, West Central Tribune, Willmar, Minn.
·5 min read

Jan. 24—WILLMAR — The Alexandria girls hockey team dominated Willmar in a 3-1 victory Tuesday at the Willmar Civic Center Arena.

"(Alexandria is) very deep, very skilled and plays with a lot of speed." Willmar head coach Eric Setrum said. "Their speed and effort level is every shift, every line. Every time we play them they don't take a shift off and that's what makes them good."

Alexandria, 8-0-1 in the Central Lakes conference, outshot Willmar 48-11, including 14-1 in the third period.

"We never got out to their level of effort," Setrum said. "They're all about playing for the end of the year, making sure they're battle-tested. That's the same for us, too. ... I don't think it was our best effort tonight, but we can learn from it and move forward.

One who put in a strong effort for Willmar was goaltender Erin Eilers.

Eilers, a sophomore, made 45 saves, good for a .9375 save percentage.

"She's playing well. She's come on strong here in the second half," Setrum said. "We're happy with how she's playing."

Alexandria got on the board first late in the first period. Lillian Dutton scored at the 15:17 mark of the opening frame with the assists going to Ella Westlund and Lauren Maras.

Westlund, a senior forward, was the only skater to record a multi-point performance. She notched her second point of the night, scoring Alexandria's second goal of the game at 0:33 of the second period.

Willmar cut its deficit to 2-1 with a goal from Makenna Larson at 12:46 of the second period. Her goal was assisted by Samantha Poe and Lily Jorgenson.

Larson, who scored her 12th goal of the season, notched the tally after intercepting a pass and firing a shot from the blueline.

"She's got one of the best shots in the conference," Setrum said of Larson, a junior defenseman.

Willmar was without sophomore center Lauren Eilers, who has eight goals and seven assists this season, due to a lower-body injury. Setrum hopes to have her back by sections.

Willmar, which ranks No. 18 in Class A, plays host to Mound-Westonka/Southwest Christian at 2:45 p.m. Saturday.

"That'll be another tough matchup," Setrum said. "We'll have to have a little bit better of an effort than what we had tonight."

Alexandria (10-10-1) 1 1 1 — 3

Willmar (11-7-1) 0 1 0 — 1

FIRST PERIOD — (1) A: Lillian Dutton (Ella Westlund, Lauren Maras), 15:17.

SECOND PERIOD — (2) A: Westlund (Aubrie Porter), 0:33 ... (3) W: Makenna Larson (Samantha Poe, Lily Jorgenson), 12:46.

THIRD PERIOD — (4) A: Sophia Korynta (Kylie Lattimer, Jersey Severson), 6:36.

GOALIE SAVES/SHOTS — Alexandria: Rachel Mohr 10/11 ... Willmar: Erin Eilers 45/48

River Lakes dominated the host St. Cloud Crush at the St. Cloud Municipal Athletic Complex.

Sophie Olson and Sophia Hess both notched three-point nights for the Stars. Olson had one goal and two assists and Hess had two goals and one assist.

The Stars are now 2-6-0 in the Central Lakes Conference.

River Lakes plays host to Chisago Lakes at 7:15 p.m. Thursday at Koronis Ice Arena in Paynesville.

River Lakes (7-12-1) 2 2 3 — 7

St. Cloud (6-15-0) 1 0 2 — 3

FIRST PERIOD — (1) SC: Maggie O'Hara (Liz Bell, Molly Burkstrand), 4:02 PP ... (2) RL: Sophia Hess (Aubree McDonagh), 11:41 PP ... (3) RL: Emma Stanley (Sophie Olson, Dalayne Hatlestad), 12:25 PP.

SECOND PERIOD — (4) RL: Hess (Sophie Olson), 3:53 ... (5) RL: Abby Storms (Madi Wendlandt, M. Horn), 9:12.

THIRD PERIOD — (6) RL: Addie Olson (unassisted), 11:14 ... (7) RL: Sophie Olson (Ayla McLellan), 7:17 ... (8) SC: Jenna Amundson (Ava Schmidt), 11:14 ... (9) SC: Lauren Juncewski (Katelyn Bauer, Kylie Smith), 12:16 ... (10) RL: Adelie Greeley (Dalayne Hatlestad, Hess), 16:58.

GOALIE SAVES/SHOTS — River Lakes: Kaydence Roeske 27/30 ... St. Cloud: Abby Stevens 29/36

Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato earned its 10th win of the season at Hutchinson.

Litchfield/D-C ranks No. 17 in Class A and is 2-2-1 in Wright County play.

Litchfield/D-C plays Mound Westonka/Southwest Christian at 7 p.m. Thursday at the David M. Thaler Sports Center in Mound.

Leo Kompelien notched two goals and Cameron O'Shea and Matthew Hornstein each had a pair of assists to help host Alexandria dominate at the Runestone Community Center.

Willmar is now 0-5 in Central Lakes action and plays host to St. Cloud at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Willmar Civic Center Arena.

Willmar (5-9-0) 0 0 0 — 0

Alexandria (5-10-1) 3 1 4 — 8

FIRST PERIOD — (1) A: Tyler Kludt (unassisted), 5:49 SH ... (2) A: Nick Peterson (Keegan Lucy, Kludt), 11:29 ... (3) A: Leo Kompelien (Zaven Noetzelman, Matthew Hornstein), 12:51.

SECOND PERIOD — (4) A: Evan Anderson (Hornstein, Caleb Lind), 7:20.

THIRD PERIOD — (5) A: Joe Lamski (Kasen Muscha, Bennett Olsen), 5:06 ... (6) A: Kompelien (Lamski, Muscha), 10:05 ... (7) A: Lamski (Cameron O'Shea), 12:49 ... (8) A: Noetzelman (Owen Draper, O'Shea), 16:43.

GOALIE SAVES/SHOTS — Willmar: Braxton Heid 49/57 ... Alexandria: Jackson Cavers 23/23

Delano/Rockford, ranked No. 9 in Class A, defeated Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato, ranked No. 10 in Class A, at Litchfield Civic Arena.

Delano/Rockford is 5-0-0 in Wright County play. Litchfield/D-C 1-3-1.

Litchfield plays host to Mound Westonka at 7 p.m. Thursday at Litchfield Civic Arena.