Bears head into Hockey Day on a roll

BY BRUCE STRAND SPORTS WRITER

The excitement is building for White Bear Township’s day in the spotlight as Hockey Day Minnesota host on Saturday. Also building is the Bears’ winning streak.

“Our entire hockey program is so excited to have the opportunity to play in Hockey Day Minnesota,” coach Tim Sager said. “The memories the boys will have from this day will last a lifetime. We are so grateful to have this opportunity and want to say thank you to everyone who made this possible.”

White Bear Lake has nine straight wins after tripping Woodbury 6-2 and Grand Rapids, both at home. The No. 10 ranked Bears are 13-2 overall, 7-1 in conference.

On Saturday, the Bears take on section arch rival Hill-Murray at 4:30 p.m. on the specially-constructed outdoor rink at Polar Lakes Park, televised by Bally Sports North. The Pioneers, a perennial power, are having a rare below .500 season (6-8-1).

The White Bear Lake girls will open the day against Stillwater at 9:30 a.m., and the Mahtomedi boys face state Class 1A champion Hermantown at 1 p.m.

Last week against Woodbury (105-1), sophomore Jack Stanius drilled three goals and made two assists. Also scoring were Joe Belisle, Charlie Olsen and Nolan Roed. The Bears outshot the Royals 37-14. Against Grand Rapids (11-7) Aiden Welch, Roed and Grady Gallatin had the goals. Leo Gabriel made 26 saves for the shutout.

“We have had a solid year so far,” said Sager. He cites captains Gallatin, Belisle, Welch and Brady Borgestad for leadership, Roed (35 points) and Welch (33) as top scorers and “many players contributing in different ways.”

Sports Briefs

Girls Hockey

Centennial/Spring Lake Park lost a duel of Top Ten teams to Maple Grove 5-1 last Tuesday, then shut down Cretin-Derham Hall 6-0 on Thursday and Blaine 3-0 on Saturday. The No. 9 Cougars (15-4-1) are 7-3-1 in the Northwest Suburban, trailing No. 1 Andover (7-0-0) and No. 6 Maple Grove (8-1-0) among 10 teams. Maple Grove had just a 25-23 edge in shots on goal but five different players found the net against the Cougars. Ella O’Hearn scored for the CSLP. Lauren O’Hara pumped in four goals against CDH and two more against Blaine, giving her 28 for the season, fifth in the metro area. Jaycee Chatleain and Reagan Kulencamp also scored against CDH (615) while Grace Laager and Kulencamp made two assists each and Anna Peterson had 25 saves for the shutout. Alexis Larson notched the other goal against Blaine (11-7-1) while Kaitlin Groess had 13 saves in the shutout.

126.250, led by Sadie Bachman, shown all-around with 35.15, and Sophie Mahnke, second with 33.30, on Thursday evening. Kylie Nelson of Centennial was third (32.95) and Jenna Simso fourth (32.225). Amelya Gannon of the Cougars won vault (8.55) with Nelson fourth (8.475) and Simso fifth (8.45). Simso took third on beam (8.675) and Nelson fifth (8.35). Nelson was third on floor (8.55) and fourth on bars (7.575). Gannon was fifth on floor (8.325).

Girls Basketball

Centennial picked up conference wins over Park Center 75-47 there last Tuesday and Andover 65-52 at home Friday, giving them five wins in six games and lifting their record to 9-7. Against Park Center (2-12), Emma Walsh led with 18 points while Macey Littlefield, Marisa Frost, Autumn McCall added 12 points each. Helen Ben led the Pirates with 13 points. Against Andover (8-7), Frost tallied 22 points, Walsh 10 points, Littlefield nine, Autumn McCall and Jordan Metz eight each, and Kati Anderson seven. The Cougars led by just 25-24 at halftime but started the second half with a 9-0 run, eight of those points by Frost, who added another run of seven points later in the half. Piper Engelby sank 20 points and Morgan Miller 19 for the Huskies.