Trojans girls hockey team loses 7-2 to New Ulm on Thursday
Jan. 11—WORTHINGTON — The Worthington Trojans girls hockey team showed great effort Thursday night, but lost 7-2 to a tough New Ulm Eagles team.
Midway through the second period, the Trojans were within a goal of tying the game, but New Ulm responded with four-straight goals over the next period and a half to win the game. Worthington (0-17) is still looking for its first win of the girls hockey season.
10 minutes into the game, Worthington got the first power play opportunity of the night. Despite that, the Eagles scored the game's first goal short-handed with 6:43 left when a shot from Michelle Smith snuck just under Trojan goalie Macie Mahlberg to give New Ulm a 1-0 lead.
With 1:31 left, WHS senior Marin Pederson raced down the ice with the puck, but her shot was saved. On the rebound, both teams went for the puck around the goal before sophomore Kylee Milbrath managed to sneak it past New Ulm goalie Ava Schmid to tie the game.
The Trojans looked to have some momentum on their side, but the Eagles immediately responded 30 seconds later on Smith's second goal.
"Normally when something like that happens, suddenly you can see the demeanor change on the bench, they sink their shoulders a little bit," said assistant coach Paul Olsen. "(But) they were all talking and they were ready to go back and try to get another one, so they really handled it well today."
Despite being outshot 21-3 in the first period, the Trojans only trailed by one goal in a 2-1 game.
After a New Ulm goal in the beginning of the second period, Pederson scored Worthington's second goal of the game on an assist from junior Peyton Nickel.
"It's always good to get goals. but it is really rewarding when you play a tough team like New Ulm and to get to sneak a few in on them," said Trojans head coach Chad Nickel.
The Trojans again only trailed by one at 3-2, but the Eagles immediately responded again after a Worthington goal. With 9:38 left, only 29 seconds after Pederson's goal, the Eagles pushed their lead to 4-2 on a goal from Afton Hulke, her first of three on the night. New Ulm would score two more times in the second period to lead 6-2, the first of which was again short-handed, and one more time in the third before the game was over.
In the end, New Ulm had 61 shots on goal compared to only nine for Worthington, so the eighth-grade goalie Mahlberg and the Trojan defense was quite active throughout the game. Mahlberg made 54 saves on the night and kept Worthington in the game, especially in the early stages.
"She played great, I mean, she's been working on controlling and rebounds and it paid off tonight," Olsen said. "And it's nice that the defense in front of her is letting her see the shots too, so she's getting a better look at them, but she played some really solid goalie tonight."
Up next for the Trojans is their fifth-straight home game Saturday against the Minnesota River Bulldogs. New Ulm will be on the road next Thursday against Luverne.
New Ulm 2 4 1 — 7
Worthington 1 1 0 — 2
