Eagles fall in double OT

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- Faribault's Erin Kastner's goal at the 5:48 mark of the second overtime lifted the Falcons to a 4-3 upset win over the New Ulm Eagles Tuesday night in the first round of the Section 1A tournament.

Kastner's goal came when she took a centering pass from Ally Foly and lifted the puck over Eagle goaltender Jenny Neveln's stick side, sending the 15th seeded Falcons into the next round of the playoffs with a 3-18-1 record.

The Eagles, seeded second behind Farmington, saw their season end with a 17-5-1 mark.

While Kastner got the game-winning goal, it was Falcon goalie Kelsey Myos who turned out to be the difference, stopping 44 of 47 shots, inlcuding a combined 13 in the two overtimes which was the difference in the game, said Eagle coach Todd Nelson.

"It is sad when, in the two overtimes, the puck is down in (Faribault's) end of the ice, and we come down on a breakaway or a 2-on-1 situation and you expect to win the game," he said. "But that is what happens in playoffs. You have to put your chances away when you get them and tonight, we did not do that. They did and came out on top, unfortunately."

The Eagles drew first blood, scoring at 11:44 when Danielle Bode lifted a wrist shot from just inside the blue line, beating Myos for a 1-0 lead.

It was a period that saw the Falcons outshoot the Eagles 4-3 as New Ulm worked the puck well in the Faribault zone but did not do what was needed to score.

"We did not take the shots," Nelson said. "You cannot just go out there and not take a shot -- the puck will not go in if you ... do that. We needed to test (Myos) early -- she is a little goalie. She had some nice saves, but the first goal that we had was from the blue line."

"You have to put the puck on net and then you have to crash hard," he said.

The Falcons would knot the game in the second period after Myos stonewalled a shot by Mary Otis from point blank range and cleared the puck into the Eagle zone.

From there, center Alli Miller got the puck past Neveln on a backhand at the 11:27 mark.

It was only the second Falcon shot on goal in the period as New Ulm held a 16-2 shooting advantage in the second 15 minutes.

That tying goal frustrated the Eagles, who have not had a lot of success in the past against Faribault.

"We have not played them in three years, and we have never beaten them," Nelson said. "This was something that I thought was something that was going to come and haunt us. I knew that they should have been ranked higher than 15th (in Section 1A)."

New Ulm would gain some mometum back just over three minutes later on a Danielle Fischer score for a 2-1 lead for New Ulm going into the third period.

But that lead would last just over three minutes into what was supposed to be the final period when Becky Moreau received a centering pass from Kemi Peterson and snuck the puck past Neveln for a 2-2 tie.

But the Eagles responded two minutes later when Ashley Dietz backhanded the puck into a wide open net.

However, three minutes later, the Falcons tied the game with just six seconds left on a power play goal off the stick of Krista Bjooraker at 8:37. It was a goal that sent the contest into the first and eventually the second overtime where Myos came up big.

In the first extra period, she stopped Tiffany Hoffmann -- one of 13 stops that kept the Falcon season going.

"She (Myos) came up big when she needed it, and you cannot win when you do not put the puck in the net," Nelson said. "There was not a lot I could tell the girls after the game."

FARIBAULT 0 1 2 0 1 -- 4

NEW ULM 1 1 1 0 0 -- 3

FIRST PERIOD SCORING

NEW ULM: Danelle Bode (Seifert) 11:44.

SECOND PERIOD SCORING

FARIBAULT: Ali Miller (unassisted) 11:27. NEW ULM Danielle Fischer (Kyla Hoffmann, Karyn Fischer) 14:45.

THIRD PERIOD

FARIBAULT: Becky Moreau ( Peterson) 3:04. NEW ULM; Ashley Dietz (Danelle Bode) 5:04. FARIBAULT: Krista Bjoraker (Putrah) 8:37.

FIRST OVERTIME: NO SCORING

SECOND OVERTIME: Erin Kastner (Foly) 5:48.