Eagles roll past Northfield

By PAUL DUNLAP

Journal Sports Editor

NEW ULM -- The New Ulm High girls hockey team exploded for seven second-period goals Tuesday night, pulling away for a 12-1 win over Northfield at Vogel Arena.

Ashley Dietz led the Eagles with five goals and an assist in the win, which puts New Ulm at 15-4-1 on the season.

"I was very impressed that we were able to come out and play a full game," coach Todd Nelson said of his squad, who saw eight different players score a goal. "That includes not letting down in the second period, like we've been doing lately, and finding the back of the net versus getting 30 or 40 shots and only scoring a few goals.

"This (win) will help us a lot in seedings. ... Hopefully we'll get fourth (seed) instead of fifth, and that's out of 15 teams which is very good for us."

Dietz would ensure the win early, scoring a natural hat trick in the first 7:18 of the contest. The first came at 1:02 on an assist from Angie Seifert, the second at 3:04 from Tammy Cordes, and completed her hat trick on a backhand that got past Raider goalie Maegen Trebelhorn. Danelle Bode would score the final goal of the period at 11:46 off assists from Amy Waldner and Nikki Williams.

"She got us going," Nelson said of Dietz. "I think all of us were doing a good job, but she was the one that was able to find the back of the net early."

The momentum didn't stop whatsoever as the Eagles followed up with the seven goals in the second. Dietz would score two more goals in the stanza, but so did teammates Mary Otis, Williams, Ali Carbert, Nikki Nelson and Danielle Fischer. Northfield finally got on the board at the 12:48 mark on Alicia Swenson's power-play goal.

"All of our lines got scoring opportunities, and all of them got goals as well," Todd Nelson said. "We need that kind of balance heading into playoffs."

With the third period on running time, the only goal came from Amy Waldner at 4:55. Assists went to Fischer and Williams.

"It's good when you lift your head up and see what's going on versus just throwing (the puck) at noises," Nelson said. "We just kept talking, tried working on different things, and things worked well for us tonight."

New Ulm goalie Jenny Neveln saw just seven shots in the game, stopping six. Trebelhorn ended with 29 saves.

The Eagles now face a small road trip to end the regular season, traveling to face Windom Friday and Marshall Saturday.

NORTHFIELD 0 1 0--1

NEW ULM 4 7 1--12

FIRST PERIOD

NU-Ashley Dietz (Angie Seifert) 1:02; NU-Dietz (Tammy Cordes) 3:04; NU-Dietz (Mary Otis) 7:18; NU-Danelle Bode (Amy Waldner, Nikki Williams) 11:46.

SECOND PERIOD

NU-Otis (Dietz) 3:41; NU-Dietz (Otis) 3:55; NU-Williams (Waldner, Seifert) 4:49; NU-Ali Carbert (Cordes) 6:38; NU-Nikki Nelson (Jocelyn Janni) 7:41; NU-Danielle Fischer (Waldner, Nelson) 9:24; NU-Dietz (unassisted) 11:21; NF-Alicia Swenson (Missy Robinson) PP 12:48.

THIRD PERIOD

NU-Waldner (Fischer, Williams) 4:55.

Penalties: Northfield 2-for-4, New Ulm 2-for-4; Saves: Northfield (Maegen Trebelhorn) 10-8-11 -- 29, New Ulm (Jenny Neveln) 4-1-2 -- 7.