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Blake offense explodes for seven goals against Wayzata

By Kassondra Burtis, SportsEngine, 11/22/16, 7:00AM CST

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Forward Izzy Daniel led the Bears past the Trojans with three goals in the 7-1 victory.




Izzy Daniel (8) finds the open net scoring her second of three goals, leading the Blake Bears to a 7-1 victory over Wayzata. Photo by Cheryl Myers, SportsEngine



11 Blake players found their way onto the score sheet in a 7-1 rout of Wayzata Tuesday night. Sophomore Izzy Daniel led the Bears’ offense with four points, recording her first career hat trick and adding one assist.

Head coach Shawn Reid praised Daniel’s play from the first game of the season through her four-point effort tonight.

“She deserves it,” Reid said. “She’s getting many chances every single game and they finally went in tonight. It’s like the floodgates opened for her; she gets one, she gets three really quickly.”

Daniel was quick to give credit to her linemates and teammates, saying the win and hat trick felt especially good coming off their first loss of the season—a 3-0 decision against Hill-Murray, a program ranked fourth in Class 2A by Let’s Play Hockey.

“We take every game seriously, so we tried to treat it like any other game,” Daniel said. “We just felt really energized after the loss and tried to play our game.”

Lily Delianedis, Sara McClanahan, and Grace Johnson each added two points in the win.

Johnson’s two goals were the first of her career. After playing defense for half of last season, she moved up to the forward position and is getting better every game, Reid said.

Reid was also quick to point out McClanahan’s improvement in the early stages of this season.

“She’s really taking her game to another level this year,” Reid said. “She’s skating very powerfully, stopping and starting, and she’s strong on the puck. It’s harder to get the puck away from her, and she’s just playing very well.”

Wayzata senior Natalie Heising, who led her team in scoring last season with 20 points, scored the lone No. 10-2A Trojan goal 2:57 into the game. Once again, Heising leads her team in offense with five goals and an assist through four games.

No. 1-1A Blake didn’t let Wayzata’s early lead last long, as they tied the game 14 seconds later and didn’t look back from there.  After back and forth play in the first period that led to a 2-1 Blake advantage going into intermission, the Bears picked up the pace in the second period, winning neutral zone battles and races to the puck, creating breakaways and odd-man rushes.

Part of the Bears’ offensive dominance over the Trojans came down to opportunities. Blake outshot Wayzata 29 to 14.

Goalie Boswell-Healey stopped 22 shots for the Trojans, compared to Bears’ goaltender Anna Kruesel who had 13 saves.

After Tuesday’s win, the Bears have an impressive 19 goals for and 8 goals against in their first five games of the season. Reid credits the early season success to the club’s top-to-bottom depth.

“We have two excellent goaltenders, six excellent defensemen, and forwards that back-check really hard,” Reid said. “That makes it hard to get goals on us. Then as far as offense, we make sure everybody is contributing. It’s a great balance of both offense and defense.”

The 2016 Class 1A champions don’t take any game lightly. Reid said that the team sets a high standard for themselves, making sure every player moves the puck, buys into the team, and contributes for the Bears to continue their successful season.

Having 11 different players on the score sheet tonight is proof they are heading in the right direction.

“Hopefully we continue improving from here,” Reid said. “We’ve had a little inconsistent play thus far. Tonight was our most consistent game, so we’re hoping to continue to build on that.”


Senior captain Natalie Heising scored just shy of three minutes into the first period. It would be the Trojans' only goal of the evening. Photo by Cheryl Myers, SportsEngine

First Report

Sophomore Izzy Daniel scored three goals to record her first career hat trick as Blake (3-1-1) breezed past Wayzata (2-2) Tuesday night at Blake School Ice Arena in Hopkins.

Bears’ freshman Grace Johnson scored two goals in the win—the first two of her high school career—and junior Sara McClanahan added two assists, cementing No. 1-1A Blake’s dominant victory over Wayzata.

Anna Kruesel had a solid night in goal, stopping 13 of 14 shots for the Bears.

Natalie Heising scored No. 10-2A Wayzata’s only goal to give the Trojans the early 1-0 lead just 2:57 into the game. Heising leads her team in scoring, with five goals and one assist in four games.

Goalie Grace Boswell-Healey stopped 22 pucks for the Trojans, who were outshot 29 to 14.


Freshman forward Grace Johnson added two goals for Blake. Photo by Cheryl Myers, SportsEngine

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