JANUARY 25, 2012 - INTER-COUNTY LEADER - NEWS SECTION - A - PAGE 15
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Blizzard boys beat Legacy Christian in final seconds Blizzard 6, Legacy Christian Lions 5 by Greg Marsten Leader staff writer SIREN – The Blizzard boys hockey team used every second of the clock to come from behind and defeat their Two Rivers Conference opponents Legacy Christian Academy, by a score of 6-5 on Friday, Jan. 20 at the Lodge Center Area in Siren. Legacy and the Blizzard basically traded scores all night, with neither squad
ever being more than one goal ahead or behind. Blizzard sophomore Aaron Dietmeier scored two goals on the night and added an assist for three points. Four other Blizzard payers scored goals on the night: Bryce Ryan, Joe Engelhart, Austin Thoreen and the final tally of the night by Anthony Dietmeier, who scored the game winner with less than 15 seconds left on the clock, breaking a 5-5 tie and giving the Blizzard boys the win, 6-5.
Earning assist credits for the Blizzard were Aaron Dietmeier, Jake Langevin, Jake Swenson, and two assists each for Matt Larson and Joe Engelhart. Blizzard goalie Thomas Labatt turned away 26 of 31 Legacy shots on goal, while the Blizzard offense managed 47 shots on goal in the victory, which secured the Blizzard’s stay atop the conference with 16 points on an 8-1 conference record. They are four points ahead of the second-place team, the Minneapolis Novas. The Blizzard had a Tuesday night Two Rivers contest scheduled for Moose Lake, but results were not available at press time.
RIGHT: Blizzard co-captain Matt Larson heads down the ice with a Legacy Christian player in chase Friday, Jan. 20. – Photos by Greg Marsten
Blizzard junior Matt Larson, No. 10, works the puck around Legacy Lion Elmo Holleran.
Blizzard senior Joe Engelhart, No. 24, tries a backhanded shot against Legacy Christian.
Blizzard girls earn silver at tourney Blizzard 4, Northland Pines 2 Hayward/Spooner 5, Blizzard 2 by Greg Marsten Leader staff writer EAGLE RIVER – The Blizzard girls hockey team took a solid second place at the Northland Pines tournament over the weekend out east, winning in the opener to hosting Northland Pines by a 4-2 final score, and then falling to the Hay-
ward/Spooner squad in the championship game, 5-2. In the opener, the Blizzard defeated the hosting Eagles after never trailing, courtesy two goals each for Kassie Lien and Wendy Roberts. Samantha O’Brien got the one lone assist for the Blizzard, and goalie Hope Tucker turned away 16 of 18 Eagle shots on goal in the win, which sent them to the championship round against the Hayward/Spooner team to close out the
tourney. The Blizzard girls drew first blood in the championship game, with Kassie Lien getting a solo goal at 16:05 in the first period. The Hurricanes tied the score late in the second period before the Blizzard got back on top late in the second period with a power play score by Paige Johnson, off assists Johanna Lauer and Samantha O’Brien. But that was all the offense the Blizzard
girls could muster, while the Hurricanes caught fire with four straight third-period goals for the win, 5-2, giving the ‘Canes tourney bragging rights, and a solid second-place silver for the Blizzard. The Blizzard girls are now 8-10-0 overall, and host Silver Bay on Saturday, Jan. 28, at 5 p.m. in Grantsburg.
Aimee Lerud sets another record in the vault her competition, according to Lund, and scored 7.050. RuthAnn Pederson had a season high in the vault with a score of 7.700. “We had a strong performance on the vault, it was great to see the momentum build from one gymnast to the next. On the balance beam, our goal was to have less falls and it was great to see two routines with no falls,” said Lund. The Pirates will be traveling to their next competition in Hudson on Saturday, Jan. 28. The meet begins with a march-in at 9:40 a.m., and competition starts at 10 a.m. They will also travel to Rush City, Minn., for a meet on Tuesday, Jan. 31, beginning at 6:30 p.m.
Gymnasts continue upward improvement, as season end gets closer by Marty Seeger Leader staff writer RICE LAKE – Of the nearly 50 competitors vying for a top spot in the vaulting event at the Rice Lake Gymnastics Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 21, Aimee Lerud of Grantsburg came out on top. Lerud also broke the school record with her performance in the vault with a score of 9.300, which she herself set earlier in the season. She broke the record while performing a pike suk vault, according to coach Kathy Lund, who was very pleased with her team’s overall performance despite only getting Lerud to medal at the 10-school event. Both Heidi Horky and Rachel Diffee had no-fall routines on the balance beam, and Raelyn Pochman made improvements in the all-around, improving her score by two points, which Lund said, gave her three personal bests, on vault, uneven bars and in the all-around.
Grantsburg’s Aimee Lerud performs on the balance beam. – File photo by Greg Marsten
Pirate gymnast Rachel Diffee had a great performance at Rice Lake Saturday, Jan. 21. – Photo submitted Pochman scored a 26.800 in the allaround, 7.450 in the vault and 5.525 in the uneven bars.
Horky had three personal bests, in the vault, floor exercise and all-around. She scored an 8.300 in the vault, 8.050 in the floor and 29.400 in the all-around. Diffee had a pair of personal-best performances as well. First on the balance beam in Rice Lake, with a 6.675, and another personal best in the floor exercise with a 7.825. She also added vaulting to
SCF/Unity competes in Rice Lake RICE LAKE – The St. Croix Falls/Unity gymnastics team competed at the Rice Lake Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 21, and finished ninth out of 10 competing teams. Ashley Johnson took 19th overall in the all-around competition with a score of 30.850. Olivia Nelson took an 18th-place finish in the vault with a score of 8.650. Jenna Christensen, Emily Bethke and Anna Luepke also competed in Rice Lake last weekend, as well as Raquel McCloud and Kasey Heimstead.