Photo Gallery: Wayzata vs Minnetonka
Indeed, the Skippers (14-3-0) tied the game 20 seconds into the third period before scoring the go-ahead goal a few minutes later to earn a 3-2 victory over Lake Conference foe Wayzata on Tuesday at Pagel Ice Arena in Minnetonka. Both third-period tallies came from the top line with junior forward Grace Sadura scoring first, then junior Ava Lindsay scoring the winner.
The intermission words from Cassano to the team were “definitely necessary,” Sadura said.
“We just need a little bit of a wake-up call,” Sadura said. “Coach came in, gave a speech and re-wired our brains, I guess.”
Minnetonka overcame deficits of 1-0 and 2-1 against Wayzata (12-6-1). Wayzata senior Mallory Coffin sent the puck toward the net, trickling it through 5-hole for the game’s first goal on the game’s first shot on net about four minutes in.
Wayzata came out with more fire than the Skippers, Sadura said. Minnetonka was coming off a 2-1 loss to North Wright County in its last game, a “little bump,” Cassano said, who added that overall she’s pleased with where her team is at this point in the season. Minnetonka is a skill-oriented team with a lot of talent, Cassano said. Some of that could have been used to their detriment, in a way, to start Tuesday’s game.
“I felt like we were trying to utilize that a little too much, a little too fancy,” Cassano said. “A little too many dangles, behind-the-back passes. I just wanted to really see them focus on what I talked about, just moving our feet, urgency.”
When Minnetonka took advantage of a second-period power play, scoring 13 seconds into the advantage on sophomore defenseman Lauren Karl’s point shot through traffic for her second tally of the season, Wayzata answered 2 minutes, 27 seconds later on a goal from freshman Jenna Britz.
Motivated by their coach’s words, the Skippers came out strong in the third. Sophomore Molly Ryan made a pass to the middle after a Lindsay faceoff win. All Sadura had to do was get her stick in the way of the puck, she said, calling that tying goal 20 seconds in “definitely a line goal.” It was Sadura’s team-leading 19th of the season.
That line has had plenty of success this season. Sadura, a University of Minnesota-Duluth commit, recently scored her 100th career point in a one goal, five-point night during an 8-1 victory Jan. 6 at Buffalo. Then there’s the Gophers-commit Lindsay, a skilled player but is also noticeable for her puck possession and ability to control play by having the puck on her stick a lot during games. She leads the team with 20 assists and has scored a goal in four straight games. Ryan assisted on both of the tying goals, giving her 14 helpers and 26 points for the season.
“When they share the puck, it’s pretty magical,” Cassano said. “They’re seeing rewards because they’re scoring a ton of goals.”
Cassano wishes her team would have played the whole game the way it did in the third period. But, she challenged them before that final 17 minutes, and they responded, she said.
“I think we responded really well,” Lindsay said, of the team’s play in the third. “We came out, my line came out and scored right away. So I think that got everyone going.”
The Skippers kept pressuring, and Lindsay took a slapshot from the point, hoping it’d go in. Plenty of traffic in front screened the goaltender, and Minnetonka had the 3-2 lead. The Skippers didn’t score again, but they were relentless with offensive pressure until the final horn.
“We got it together, and I think we played with more urgency and fire in the third,” Lindsay said. “Hopefully we can build off of that a little bit and take that into practice and the next game Saturday against Edina. It’ll be a big one.”