RiverHawks' Streak Includes Historic Win Over Eden Prairie

North Wright County got a huge win to push itself into the postseason, and one for the history books. 

The Hawks, who have rebounded well from a defeat to Buffalo back on Jan. 25, picked up a 3-1 win over Eden Prairie at the Moose Sheritt Ice Arena in Monticello. 

The game, played Feb. 2, was rescheduled after the Dec. 11 blizzard. 

"I've never heard our locker room that loud after a game," said head coach Tim Hanson. "The girls were just pumped." 

The unranked RiverHawks never trailed, thanks to Kasey Blomberg's goal in the second minute of play. She gained control of the puck in the high slot and wristed one by goalie McKenzie Johnson for a 1-0 lead. 

"She just continues to come up big," Hanson said. "You can't say enough. She's a leader." 

A dramatic goal in the second period would make it 2-0 North Wright County. Dani Sibley looked like she could be the hero with a breakaway late in the second, but she put her one-on-none shot right on the pad of goalie Johnson. Her teammates picked her up, however, as Rachel Heiber dug the saved shot out of the corner and sent it into the crease, where Maddi Sjelin was waiting. With four seconds left, Sjelin put the shot on net, then scored on the rebound with one tick left on the clock to make it 2-0.

"We played to the horn, and they didn't. I think they let up. That's just a huge goal. Our crowd erupted and our team just fed off that all the way through the intermission and into the third period," Hanson said. 

Eden Prairie would make it 2-1 in the third, scoring on a power play goal. But the Hawks didn't panic, keeping control of center ice and turning back scoring chances. Johnson settled down for the Eagles and made a couple of big saves, but Amanda Koep stopped the Eagles, even with the empty net for the final 65 seconds, time and again. 

Finally, Halie Gudmundson picked up a save off of Koep, fired it down the ice and into the empty net on a long, game-sealing goal, and the Hawks had a 3-1 win. 

"She was doing the right thing and trying to clear it, and it just went in. We had talked at a time out before that not to be selfish and just try to clear the zone. She just made and incredible shot." 

It was a bit of personal victory for many players, including Blomberg, who were a bit distraught when Allie LaCombe left the RiverHawks program to go play for Eden Prairie her freshman year. Now a senior, LaCombe is considered one of the state's best, and has 35 goals and 16 assists on the season. She'll play at Syracuse next  year. 

But it was Blomberg's night, and week. She had three goals in Friday's game, a win over Cambridge-Isanti that gave the Hawks a season sweep of the Blue Jackets and sealed second place for North Wright County. 

"We still have goals, and state tournament is always the top one," Blomberg said. "We can get there." 

"This is a win we can build on as a program," Hanson said of the win over the Eagles. "We're clicking on all cylinders now. We need to carry this momentum into the playoffs." 

The Hawks will close the regular season Tuesday night when they host Rocori at the St. Michael-Albertville Ice Arena in Albertville. It will be Senior Night for STMA members of the team. The puck drops at 7 p.m. sharp. 

NOTES

• Since the Hawks' 2-1 loss at Buffalo, they've beaten Armstrong, Moorhead, Hutchinson, Cambridge-Isanti and Eden Prairie by a combined score of 30-4

• Blomberg has five goals in the team's last three games, to go with four assists. She has 46 points on the season with 27 points and 19 assists in 24 games played. 

• Sjelin actually leads the team in +/-, with 23. She has 36 points on the year, third on the team. Sibley is second at 38 points.