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South St. Paul skates past Hutchinson

By Amelia Rayno, Star Tribune Staff Writer, 02/23/11, 3:00PM CST

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The Packers net three goals in first five minutes, cruising to a 5-2 victory


South St. Paul's Sam LaShomb celebrated after the Packers scored in first period action against Hutchinson. /Bruce Bisping, Star Tribune

Third-seeded South St. Paul did not waste any time kicking off its second consecutive and 11th overall state tournament appearance Wednesday. The Packers scored five first-period goals to jump-start a 5-2 victory over Hutchinson in a repeat of last year’s victory in the same quarterfinal matchup at Xcel Energy Center.

“That is the kind of start I think every coach dreams of, to get five goals in that outburst that we had, from all three of our lines and from our defensemen,” South St. Paul coach Dave Palmquist said. “That was the start that we really needed.”

The Packers (23-5-0) came out full of spark, starting the flurry two minutes into the game and netting three goals within the first five minutes. Superb stick-handling and aggressive offensive play gave the Packers plenty of opportunities, as Emily Reibert added her second goal with six minutes to go in the first period, and defenseman Sam LaShomb added a little extra insurance with her score near the end of the period.

“Coming to state and seeing all your fans, and playing on the same ice as the Wild, it gets people so excited, you just get this energy like you’ve never had the whole season,” LaShomb said.

Hutchinson (14-14-1) made a comeback, getting two second-period goals from Sara Carlson. And after being outshot 20-3 in the first period, the Tigers held the Packers to 14 shots and scoreless in the final two, while goalie Mary Cummins made some excellent saves (29 overall) to keep them in the game.

“After the first period, I told them we’ve got to keep going,” Hutchinson coach Mitch Fabel said. “I thought they battled back pretty well.”

Also scoring for South St. Paul were Lauren Wilcox and Anna Leadens. The Packers will face Breck in the semifinals at 11 a.m. Friday.

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