Coming back strong: Experience gives Eagles depth

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- Following two losses to top teams in Section 2, the New Ulm Eagle girls' hockey team will open their home season tonight when they host Luverne at 7 p.m. at the New Ulm Civic Center.

Last year, the Eagles were 18-5-1 after losing in the first round of playoffs.

"This year we have a lot of players back," coach Todd Nelson said. "We did lose our top scorer in Ashley Dietz, our goalie Jenny Neveln and scorer Danielle Fischer."

That means that the Eagles will first have to replace Neveln, who was an all-state goalie last year. That replacement was supposed to be sophomore Kayla Nesvold, who saw time last year as a goalie on the varsity, but she injured her collar bone in practice and is out for an undetermined period of time. That means that junior Sam Schmit will mind the nest until Nesvold returns.

The injury has hampered the Eagles some.

"Sam (Schmit) has only played two weeks total as a goalie before the first game -- she got put in the fire right away," Nelson said. "She has put forth a good effort in her games."

But Nelson hopes that the team will adjust with the help of experienced players.

"We will have a lot of depth this year," Nelson said. "We have three strong lines again -- we basically have everyone back on offense and defense from last year. Now we just have to play hard and smart."

After the first game against Orono, Nelson said that the first line will be freshman Tiffany Hoffmann, along with seniors Danielle Bode and Jocelyn Janni.

"We are trying to balance the other two lines so we can continue to go with three lines," he said.

Steph Stewart at center, and juniors Emily Drexler and Sam Richter would be on the second line. The third line is center Kyla Hoffmann, with Mary Otis and Amber Reinhart.

He said that the depth of his team this year will be the Eagles' strength.

"I think that there are a lot of teams still struggling to get three good lines that can go all of the time," Nelson said. "We have a really strong cast of seniors on the team this year -- we have eight -- so hopefully we will get a lot of leadership from them, and we can go in the right direction."

Nelson also said he hopes a tougher schedule will make the team stronger, as they play two top teams right off the bat.

"[It] is something that I have been trying to build into a tougher schedule," he said. "It just so happened that we played the top two teams (in Section 2) right off of the bat."

Nelson said that he has been pleased with the team's ability to skate and keep the puck in the offensive zone. "We need to take care of our scoring chances better," he said.

He also said that his team needs to work on defense "and make sure that we play our position and communicate with each other. Any breakdowns can really hurt us this year."

Nelson said that this year, New Ulm's section lost both Farmington and Faribault, which is good for the Eagles, because "they both have been thorns in our side in tournaments."

The South Central Conference looks to be New Ulm's again, according to Nelson.

"In the section, ourselves, Mankato and Albert Lea look to contend," he said.