Minnesota Girls Hockey Hub

Saturday was senior night for the Class 2A co-op Holy Family/Waconia against Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato. Coach Ryan Rice and his staff were pleased to honor the girls' hockey team's four graduating members, and show appreciation for their contributions over the years.

Then a couple of youngsters swooped in and stole the show in a 5-3 victory.

Eighth-graders Makayla Williams and Megan Menzuber scored 15 seconds apart in the third period to put the Wildfire ahead after a less-than-stellar two periods against a Wright County Conference foe that had yet to win a league game.

"Not what I was expecting," said Rice, noting his team's 8-2 victory over the Dragons earlier in the year. "I think we came out a little flat after a lot of emotion before the game. Our girls started to worry a little bit, and I think they just had to focus and eventually they did."

Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato, which hasn't won since Dec. 20, jumped out to a 2-0 lead only 3 minutes, 6 seconds into the game. J.C. Reinke got the Wildfire on the board 2:19 later, but the teams traded goals from there before the middle-schoolers got into the action.

"I told the whole team if they kept getting after it, kept getting their chances that eventually [pucks] would start going in," Rice said. "There was some frustration there, because everyone wanted to win for the seniors."