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Benilde-St. Margaret's builds two-goal lead, but Chaska/Chanhassen storms back to force tie

By Trevor Squire, SportsEngine, 01/30/18, 10:00AM CST

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The Storm Hawks' Katelyn Roberts netted the game-tying goal with 51 seconds left in regulation.

Freshman goaltender Carly Greene stopped 38 shots for the Red Knights in the 2-2 tie. Photo by Carter Jones, SportsEngine

Freshman goaltender Carly Greene stopped 38 shots for the Red Knights in the 2-2 tie. Photo by Carter Jones, SportsEngine

Click photos to view the entire gallery from the game.

Chaska/Chanhassen, the three-time defending Metro West Conference champion, has a trio of top scorers coach Todd Johnson calls “the Puppy Line.”

Featuring eighth-grader Katelyn Roberts (10-9-19), freshmen Alex Dixey (7-9-16) and Lauren Spear (14-7-21), the underclassmen are the youngest and smallest players on the team, but their contributions already have Storm Hawks fans barking for a fourth straight league title.

Roberts, the youngest—yet longest of the litter at 5-foot-4—stood tall for her team that had battled frustrations Friday afternoon against Benilde-St. Margaret’s stalwart goaltender in freshman Carly Greene, who made 39 saves.

With under a minute left in regulation, the middle-schooler, showing maturity in knowing she couldn’t drive past a defender on a 1-on-1, instead slipped the puck to her backhand where she created a lane to pull the same move on Greene and sneak the puck around the Red Knights goalie while on the penalty kill.

“[Johnson] said ‘they’re tired. We know it so just go out there and play hard’,” Roberts said, reciting Johnson’s message to the team in a timeout late in the third period. “I don’t think he expected us to get a goal—we were more focused on stopping them from getting a goal [on the power play]—but I just went out there and skated my hardest.”
 
Her goal ignited her team’s bench and forced a 2-2 overtime draw at the Chaska Community Center. The Storm Hawks (10-11-2, 5-1-1) trailed the entire game and would have surrendered the title outright to Benilde-St. Margaret’s after a 3-1 loss to the Red Knights (8-13-2, 5-1-1) on Jan. 18.

“I knew once I saw her get around the defender she was gonna score,” Spear said of Roberts' goal.

Benilde-St. Margaret’s was outshot 40-18 but proved much more efficient with their scoring chances. The Red Knights landed just two shots in the first period. Both found the back of the Chaska/Chanhassen net.

Mandy Nylander took the puck from the sideboard around the net and fed fellow senior Megan Truman who was sliding through the slot for a one-timer goal 2 minutes, 44 seconds into the game. Abby Hancock netted her first-career goal six minutes later when she pushed the puck to her backhand to evade a defender, pulled it to her forehand and fired a shot over the glove of Storm Hawks goalie Katelyn Sampson. 

Greene kept her composure while weathering a 23-shot barrage through the first two periods before a shot from Abby Nelson bounced off a Benilde-St. Margaret’s defender and into the back of the net. 

The Storm Hawks played shorthanded most of the second period taking six penalties but found good fortune in Nelson’s goal.

Chaska/Chanhassen continued to pepper the Red Knights net in the final period where Greene made a pair of sprawling saves and thwarted several chances with her blocker before Roberts’ game-saving goal. The Storm Hawks had to kill a penalty in the extra session but were galvanized in their effort to preserve their chances at the league crown. Both teams have one final league game on their schedule.

And after mounting frustration and chipping away at Greene, Chaska/Chanhassen found its answer after the puppy line was held in check for the majority of the game.

“We just have to keep working harder and playing our game,” Dixie said. “When we play our kind of game we can play with anybody.”

Chaska/ Chanhassen forward Katelyn Roberts skates with the puck against Benilde-St. Margarets. Roberts tied the game 2-2 with 51 seconds left.

Chaska/ Chanhassen forward Katelyn Roberts skates with the puck against Benilde-St. Margarets. Roberts tied the game 2-2 with 51 seconds left. Photo by Carter Jones, SportsEngine

First Report

Eighth-grader Katelyn Roberts’ goal with 51 seconds left in regulation forced a 2-2 overtime tie against Benilde-St. Margaret’s Saturday afternoon at Chaska Community Center. 

Roberts’ goal keeps the three-time defending Metro West champion Storm Hawks (10-11-2, 5-1-1) in contention for the league title.

Freshman goaltender Carly Greene stopped 38 shots for the Red Knights (8-13-2, 5-1-1), while Megan Truman and Abby Hancock netted the Red Knights' goals.

Abby Nelson scored the other Chaska/Chanhassen goal. Storm Hawks goalie Katelyn Sampson had 16 saves.

Benilde-St. Margaret's forward MacKenzie Rich takes a shot against Chaska/Chanhassen. Photo by Carter Jones, SportsEngine

Benilde-St. Margaret's forward MacKenzie Rich takes a shot against Chaska/Chanhassen. Photo by Carter Jones, SportsEngine

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