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January 21, 2000
Dietz leads Eagles to victoryBy PAUL DUNLAP Journal Sports Editor NEW ULM -- The New Ulm girls hockey team defeated Waseca Thursday night. Ashley Dietz made sure of it. Dietz scored all four Eagle goals, leading her team to the 4-2 win at Vogel Arena. "The first period was wonderful," New Ulm co-coach Todd Nelsaon said, "but I think our problem is that we get overconfident and just quit playing. When a team scores a goal it gives them new life, and (Waseca) came back hard. It's a good thing we had No. 7 tonight." No. 7 is Dietz, and the freshman wasted no time in scoring her first goal, flipping the puck past Bluejay goalie Sarah Jewison at the 2:34 mark. She would then add a power-play goal at 7:46, on an assist from Stacy Gramentz, to give New Ulm a 2-0 edge at the end of the opening period. "She played wonderful," Nelson said of Dietz. "The good thing about our team this year is that 17 out of 20 of us have gotten points, whether it's assists or goals, which is a big change from last year. Certain players just come out to play on certain nights, which has allowed us to get back to 8-9 (season record). Hopefully, we can continue." Waseca would get the first goal of the second period, and perhaps the prettiest goal of the night as Megan Frear took the puck end to end, dodging all five New Ulm defenders and scoring a short-handed tally as she beat Eagle goalie Jenny Neveln. The Bluejays looked to take the momentum at that point, and the period would remain scoreless until Dietz answered on another unassisted goal with just :04 left on the clock, giving New Ulm its two-goal cushion back. The game was physical, for girls hockey it was downright chippy. Eight penalties were called, including four for roughing and two for checking. "You never know what you're going to get," Nelson said. "Some refs will call everything, and others will call almost nothing. It's hard to teach these girls what's acceptable and what is not ... what's dirty or unsportsmanlike and what is not. A lot of that (unsportsmanlike play) was happening tonight, and I don't want us to be known as that kind of team. Just otu there to hurt somebody." Waseca would again get to within a single goal as Sara Dehn scored on a nice feed from Lynette Dickie at the 1:40 mark of the third. The Eagles were able to hang on, though, with Dietz scoring her fourth and final goal at 7:19 to produce the final margin. New Ulm is now on the brink of the .500 mark at 8-9, and the Eagles will hope to get back to even as they host Mankato Tuesday night. "They're definitely beatable this year," Nelson said of Mankato. "We have them here at home, so we should have a good shot against them." WASECA 0 1 1--2 NEW ULM 2 1 1--4 FIRST PERIOD NU-Dietz (unassisted) 2:34; NU-Dietz (St.Gramentz) PP 7:46. SECOND PERIOD W-Frear (unassisted) SH 1:13; NU-Dietz (unassisted) 14:56. THIRD PERIOD W-Dehn (Dickie) 1:40; NU-Dietz (unassisted) 7:19 Saves: Waseca (Jewison) 14-6-11--31; NU (Neveln) 0-5-8--13. Penalties: Waseca 6-for-12, NU 2-for-4.
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