by Scott DCamp
Sports Editor
The Thief River Falls girls hockey team dropped both of its games at the 2022 TRF Thanksgiving Classic held Friday and Saturday, Nov. 25-26 at the Ralph Engelstad Arena.
The Prowlers dropped a 7-1 decision to Northfield, a 2022 Class AA state qualifier, in Friday’s opener.
“Good team – we need to be better, make quicker decisions,” said Thief River Falls Head Coach Brett Johnson. “Need to get more shots on goal.”
The Raiders netted three first period goals, with all three coming in the first 10 minutes. Megan Snyder scored a short handed goal at 2:27. Ayla Puppe scored the first of her two goals in a short-handed opportunity at 3:31, and Emerson Garlie scored a power play goal at 9:45.
Northfield’s lead stood at 3-0 until Isabelle Stephes found the net on a power play for the Raiders at 10:45 of the second period. Ashlyn Paukert scored with 1:01 left to play in the second period to make the score 5-0 in favor of the Raiders.
The Raiders would add two more goals late in the third period, with Tove Sorenson scoring at 10:48 and Puppe scoring with 3:25 left to play.
The Prowlers got on the board with 1:45 left to play. Gretchen Cota scored her fourth goal of the season, with Quinn Kenfield picking up her third assist of the season on the scoring play.
Northfield goalie Macy Mueller picked up the win with 15 saves in 16 opportunities. Bell Hamre took the loss for the Prowlers with 31 saves in 38 opportunities.
The Prowlers were a little more competitive early-on against West Fargo United Saturday. United scored first with an Alyssa Smith goal at 5:04 of the first period.
The Prowlers answered with a goal by Jayden Breiland, her third of the season, a little over two minutes later, with Gretchen Cota and Kali Knutson assisting on the play.
West Fargo regained the lead with a goal by Kaimbre Gourde with 4:43 left in the first period, and it added to its lead with a goal by Mia Gervais with 3:16 left in the opening period.
West Fargo broke the game open in the second period with goals by Courtney Doctor (1:35), Smith (10:19), Doctor (11:42), and Gervais (14:56).
Doctor scored her third goal of the game with 6:02 left in the third period to put West Fargo up 8-1.
The Prowlers scored a couple of goals late, with Cota scoring an unassisted goal with 4:40 left to play; and junior Julia Rude scoring her first goal of the season with 1:06 left to play. Recording assists for the Prowlers were Alexis Sawatzke and Kora Sorter.
Maggie Seeley recorded 23 saves for West Fargo. Hamre finished with 35 saves for the Prowlers.
“Thought we played better than we did Friday night but we just fought the puck all afternoon,” Johnson said. “We made some costly turnovers and it cost us. We did a better job of putting pucks on the net.”
The Prowlers were back in action Tuesday night for the annual Border Battle game at Roseau. Both the boys and girls varsity games were slated to begin at 7 p.m.
Scoring
123T
Northfield 3 2 2 7
Thief River Falls 0 0 1 1
First period – Northfield – Megan Snyder (short handed) 2:27; Northfield – Ayla Puppe (short handed) (Grace McCoshen) 3:31; Northfield – Emerson Garlie (power play) (Ayla Puppe, Mia Miller) 9:45.
Second period – Northfield – Isabelle Stephes (power play) (#11 Grace McCoshen, #21 Mia Miller) 10:45; Northfield – Ashlyn Paukert (Grace McCoshen) 15:59.
Third period – Northfield – Tove Sorenson (Olivia Rasmussen)10:48; Northfield – Ayla Puppe (Grace McCoshen) 13:35; TRF – Gretchen Cota (Quinn Kenfield) 15:15.
Shots – Northfield 13-15-10 – 38; Thief River Falls – 7-5-4 – 16.
Power plays – Northfield 2-for-2; TRF 0-for-3.
Penalties – Northfield 4 (8 minutes); TRF 3 (6 minutes).
Goalie saves – Northfield, Macy Mueller 15; TRF, Bell Hamre 31.
Scoring
123T
West Fargo 3 4 1 8
Thief River Falls 1 0 2 3
First period – WF – Alyssa Smith (Zoey Gervais) 5:04; TRF – Jayden Breiland (Gretchen Cota, Kali Knutson) 7:28; WF – Kaimbre Gourde (Zoey Gervais) 12:17; WF – Mia Gervais (Zoey Gervais, Trissa Olafson) 13:44.
Second period – WF – Courtney Docktor 0:35; WF – Alyssa Smith (power play) (Gace Vetter, Zoey Gervais) 10:19; WF – Courtney Docktor (Zoey Gervais, Mia Gervais) 11:42; WF – Mia Gervais (Alyssa Smith, Zoey Gervais) 14:56.
Third period – WF – Courtney Docktor (Mia Gervais, Zoey Gervais) 10:58; TRF – Gretchen Cota 12:20; TRF – Juila Rude (Alexis Sawatzke, Kora Sorter) 15:54.
Shots – West Fargo 16-17-10 – 43; TRF 9-11-6 – 26.
Power plays – West Fargo 1-for-2; TRF 0-for-4.
Penalties – West Fargo 4 (8 minutes; TRF 2 (4 minutes).
Goalie saves – West Fargo, Maggie Seeley 23; TRF, Bell Hamre 35.
Greater Minnesota
Conf.overallpts
Bemidji 3-0-0, 5-0-0 6
Crookston 1-0-0, 5-0-0 2
Warroad 1-0-0, 5-0-0 2
Roseau 1-1-0, 3-1-0 2
Moorhead 0-0-0, 2-1-0 0
Thief River Falls 0-2-0, 2-4-0 0
EGF 0-3-0, 2-3-0 0
Results
■ Tuesday, Nov. 22 – Bemidji 3, Roseau 1; Warroad 18, East Grand Forks 0.
■ Friday, Nov. 25 – Crookston 2, West Fargo 0; Northfield 7, Thief River Falls 1.
■ Saturday, Nov. 26 – Crookston 4, Northfield 2; West Fargo 8, Thief River Falls 3; Blake 4, Moorhead 3; Warroad 9, Simley 0.