SUN THISWEEK - Farmington - Lakeville March 1, 2013 13A
Sports Panthers make history, but want more North plays in epic semifinal at state girls hockey by Mike Shaughnessy SUN THISWEEK
A year ago, Lakeville North’s drive to a state girls hockey championship ended with an overtime loss to Minnetonka. It happened again last week, except this one probably hurt six times as much. No one is likely to forget what happened in the 2013 Class AA semifinals as Lakeville North and Minnetonka went at each other for five scoreless overtime periods. At 4:29 of the sixth overtime – and shortly after 1 a.m. Saturday – Minnetonka senior Amy Petersen scored to give her team a 4-3 victory and end the longest game in state girls tournament history. If Petersen’s name sounds painfully familiar to Lakeville North fans, it might be because she also scored the overtime winner when Minnetonka beat the Panthers 2-1 in last year’s state semifinals. But, instead of cursing their fortune, North’s players returned to Xcel Energy Center less than 16 hours later and, running on fumes, beat Eden Prairie 3-2 in the third-place
game. It’s the highest state tournament finish for any Lakeville girls team. “The girls were sore, tired. There was a lot of anxiety,” coach Buck Kochevar said. “If they got to sleep, it was after 2 o’clock. But they came back and battled really hard today. “I can’t remember a turnaround like that. This was something special right here where the girls had to bounce back. We got two goals early, which was important. We were going to have our legs right away and then we were going to hit a wall. We could see that as the game went along that we were losing a little gusto.” Minnetonka also came back strong following the long night, beating HillMurray 3-1 in the championship game Saturday night to win its third consecutive Class AA title. But it’s the semifinal game that left people talking. Minnetonka took leads of 2-0 and 3-1, but two goals by the Panthers’ Christi Vetter in the second period tied the game. There was no scoring in the third period and five overtime periods, but not
for lack of trying. Both teams had multiple golden opportunities to end it, but North goalie Cassie Alexander and Minnetonka goalie Sydney Rossman seemed to get sharper and the game went on. The winning goal wasn’t the prettiest – a Minnetonka shot hit Petersen in the chest and deflected past Alexander – except to the Skippers, who considered it a thing of beauty. “I knew it was going to come down to a lucky bounce, a lucky hit,” said Alexander, whose 59 saves set a single-game state tournament record. “Both teams were gassed.” Not surprisingly, Alexander said the state semifinal game was the most pressure she has faced in her hockey career. “I’ve been in a shootout before, but it doesn’t compare to this,” she said. “If you let one in (during overtime), you’re done. In a shootout, it’s you and one other player, but you know if you let one in, your player can still go down and score.” Taylor Flaherty scored in the first period for the Panthers, and Ash-
Photo by Andy Rogers
Lakeville North’s Christi Vetter (21) defends against North Wright County in the Class AA state quarterfinal game last week. The Panthers ended up in third place. ley Kloncz assisted on all three North goals. The Panthers were able to get some food and fluids before attempting to sleep, but if Alexander is an indication, sleep didn’t come easily. “I got to sleep about 4, 4:30,” she said. “I had a hard time falling asleep after that game, as you can imagine.” Megan Skelly and Maddie McGlade scored in the first period as Lake-
ville North jumped ahead of Eden Prairie in the third-place game. Skelly’s second goal of the game, an empty-netter, came with 1:22 remaining. The Panthers’ push for a state title threatened to end not long after it began when North Wright County scored twice in the final four minutes of the third period to send the Feb. 21 Class AA quarterfinal game to overtime. Vetter scored at 4:10 of the extra
period to give North a 5-4 victory. Kloncz, Flaherty, Alexis Joyce and Skelly also scored, and Heidi Winiecki had three assists. An under-appreciated part of North’s state tourney push was the Panthers had to carry on without junior defender Dani Sadek, who broke an ankle in the final week of the regular season. Sadek was the team’s third-leading scorer. See HOCKEY, 14A
Nowicki fourth in state on the floor exercise Teammate Okins 23rd all-around by Andy Rogers SUN THISWEEK
Lakeville North’s Ashley Nowicki had plenty of reasons to celebrate on Saturday night. She finished the night on the podium as one of the top performers in the floor exercise at the Class AA state individual meet at the University of Minnesota Sports Pavilion. She scored 9.625, putting her fourth overall. Her average score was tied with Faribault’s Erin Olson, but Nowicki lost
the tie breaker by 0.05 points after all the judges’ scores were averaged. Still, it was the highest finish for a Lakeville North gymnast in any event since Ashley Myers placed fourth in the floor exercise in 2010. Nowicki was 19th allaround with 36.50. Her other top scores came in the vault (9.475) and balance beam (9.2), with her Photo by Bill Jones Photo by Bill Jones uneven bars coming in at Lakeville North’s Ashley Nowicki performs at the Class Rachel Okins from Lakeville North performs her floor 8.2. AA state gymnastics meet last weekend at the University routine at the Class AA state meet last weekend at the See GYMNASTS, 14A of Minnesota. She finished fourth on the floor exercise. Sports Pavilion at the University of Minnesota.
Cougars qualify in every state event Lakeville South swimmers wins section title by Andy Rogers SUN THISWEEK
Photo by Bill Jones
Farmington’s Kiana Lord performs her floor exercise routine at the Class AA state meet last weekend at the University of Minnesota Sports Pavilion.
Wharton seventh at state on beam Lord’s floor exercise takes 22nd by Andy Rogers SUN THISWEEK
Balance beam is often a gymnast’s least favorite event, but Farmington’s Kylie Wharton has embraced it. While it’s easy to fall and get discouraged, Wharton brought out her best at the Class AA state individual meet last weekend at the Sports Pavilion at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Wharton was seventh in the balance beam with a 9.35. “Kylie was more then ready for this meet,” her coach Lynn Bauman said. “She worked very hard on preparing herself physically and mentally. Kylie’s poise and confidence was a delight to watch as she managed to stay on the beam for her whole routine. What an exciting accomplishment and experience for Kylie.” Wharton was strug-
gling with an injury earlier in the season, but came back strong to land one of the best beam routines in state. She wasn’t the only Tiger having fun on Saturday. Her teammate Kiana Lord was 22nd in the floor exercise with a 9.250. “I told Kiana to go out there and have fun and hit your landings,” Bauman said. “She did just that and more. Kiana had an amazing floor routine and she did have fun. That’s all you can ask for.”
Swimming
1AA meet last weekend in Rochester. His 100 freestyle time of 49.27 seconds set a new school record, which is one of the faster qualifying times in the state. Kirchmann will also swim legs of the statequalifying 400 and 200 freestyle relays with Dahlton Bell, Christian Bell and Cameron Molnar. The 200 freestyle relay won the section title and set an new school record. Diver Evan Carufel also won the section title with the top score in Rochester putting him back on the diving board at state for the second straight season. Last year he finished 24th. Jonathan Bovee also qualified for state with fourth-best diving scores at the section meet.
Christopher Kirchmann will get the chance to swim plenty of times at the Class AA state swimming and diving meet at the Aquatic Center at the University of Minnesota this weekend. Kirchmann qualified in both the in the 50-yard Andy Rogers is at andy. or freestyle and 100 free- rogers@ecm-inc.com style events at the Section facebook.com/sunthisweek.
The Lakeville South swimming and diving team added on Feb. 22 another trophy to its tally this season after winning the Section 3AA title. Lakeville South edged Rosemount 364.5 to 350.5. Lakeville North was third with 312.5. In the process, the Cougars qualified a healthy portion of its roster for the Class AA state swim meet this weekend at the University of Minnesota. The Cougars won four events and qualified in all 12, often with two entrants. “This is very unusual, even in the years when we won the state meet and dominated, we did not have someone qualify in every event,” said head coach Rick Ringeisen, who was a coach with the Lakeville High School team before Lakeville South opened. He’s coached a state champion in every event during his career, but he’s never coached someone in every event in the same state meet. In a competitive 200yard medley relay field, Mitch Hedquist, Robert Trone, Luke Sabal and Adrian Sommers won the section title. The 400 freestyle relay also won the section thanks to Travis Meyer, Sommers, Daniel Eckerson and Mitch Herrera. “The freestyle relays have been dominated by Rosemount all season,” Ringeisen said. “I told them if Rosemount wins the relay and they place second, they would win the meet by two points. If they placed third, they would finish tied with Rosemount for the section champion-
ship. They all just glared at me with a determined resolve and before I could get a word of encouragement spoken, Mitch Herrera said, ‘Let’s just win the relay.’ ” The relay team broke a 22-year-old section record. Herrera will be busy at state after winning both the 200 and 500 freestyle section titles. “I feel that Mitch is one of the best in the state, and I know his goals are to get to the top or real close to the top of the awards podium at the state,” Ringeisen said. “However, this year Mitch also wants to be on the podium with his teammates for the relays.” He’ll also be part of the 200 freestyle relay with Meyer, Sabal and Eckerson that was the section runnerup. With hopes of making the final, swimmers and divers will have plenty of teammates pool-side to cheer them on. Meyer (200 freestyle; 100 butterfly), Robert Trone (200 individual medley; 100 breaststroke), Sommers (50 freestyle; 100 freestyle), Lee Bares (diving), Sabal (100 butterfly; 100 breaststroke) and Mitch Hedquist (100 backstroke) all qualified for state. This season the Cougars have won the South Suburban Conference title, the Maroon and Gold Maroon Division title, and qualified for the True Team State meet. “The goal going into the season was to put together a solid conference season, advance more athletes into the state meet and try to finish in the top 10 at state,” Ringeisen said. “All season long this team has continued to set the bar
higher. After an outstanding section meet it is now time for the team to do their best and realize that goal of a top 10 finish as a team at the state meet.” The best finish at state in school history is 11th in 2011.
Lakeville North The Panthers will send several swimmers to state after placing third at the section meet. Although counting swimmers alone, the Panthers would have placed second. Lakeville North doesn’t have any divers while Rosemount received 44 points from the event. All three relays – 200 medley, 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle – are scheduled to make an appearance at state along with nine individual entrants. The 200 freestyle had the best relay finish for Lakeville North in the section placing third thanks to Sam Wilson, Alex Dahlgren, Andrew Strauch and Jacob Burchfield. Wilson (50 freestyle), Burchfield (200 freestyle; 100 butterfly) and Strauch (200 IM) qualified individually. Ryan Young placed second in both the 100 backstroke and butterfly. “(He) has the best chance of placing highest at the (state) meet, but we have a chance to get our relays and hopefully a few other swims back to the finals,” head coach Dan Schneider said. “The meet is very fast and very deep.” Nathan Regan was the runner-up in the 500 freestyle. He also qualified in the 200 IM. Kyle Kleiner will join them at state qualifying in the 500 freestyle