ST. PAUL — Proctor/Hermantown girls hockey players Nya Sieger and Jane Eckstrom haven’t played together forever, it only seemed like it based on the first period of Wednesday’s Class A state quarterfinal against Albert Lea.
You’ve all heard of a give and go. Call this a give and go and give and goal, because that was the result of the ping-pong passing display showcased by the Mirage forwards. With that kind of chemistry, you’d think it was the Staal brothers out there.
Sieger’s goal at 6:24 in the first period set the tone in Proctor/Hermantown’s 6-2 victory at Xcel Energy Center. Eckstrom, just a freshman in her first year on varsity, should have been credited with two assists on the play.
“We work on it a lot in practice,” said Sieger, who along with Hannah Graves paced the Mirage with two goals apiece. “We do a lot of drills like that. We’ve played a lot together this year, so it’s pretty nice that now we’ve got (a few tools) under our belt.”
More like the whole tool chest.
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Not to be outdone, Eckstrom scored the second goal of the game at 12:11 in the first on assists from Ava Anick and Katie Sandelin as father Scott Sandelin, Minnesota Duluth’s men’s hockey coach, watching in attendance, had much to be proud of.
The third-seeded Mirage (20-7-1), the defending state champions, advance to play second-seeded Orono (25-3) at 11 a.m. Friday in the semifinals. The Spartans advanced with a 7-1 victory over Mankato East in Wednesday’s opening quarterfinal.
Orono defeated Proctor/Hermantown 6-3 Nov. 19 in Proctor as the Mirage started the season 0-2 and later 2-3-1.
“I think we learned a lot from that loss,” junior defenseman Sophie Parendo said. “It helped us figure out what we needed to work on throughout the season to prepare for this moment now.”
Like playing together and learning their roles.
The Mirage had 10 seniors to replace and as it turns out, they were just finding their skates. They’ve won six straight since a 4-2 home loss Jan. 28 to Andover, Class AA’s top-ranked and only undefeated team.
“We played shorthanded a lot in that game, too,” Sieger said of the first meeting with Orono. “So hopefully we’ll be able to play better and not get shorthanded.”
Proctor/Hermantown held a 53-13 advantage in shots on goal against Albert Lea (14-11-1), which was clearly outmatched playing in its first state tournament.
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The Tigers got goals from Liley Steven and Esther Yoon, while Rachel Doppelhammer (26 saves) and Jayda Moyer (21) combined on 47 saves. Senior Abby Pajari had 11 saves for Proctor/Hermantown.
The Mirage will want to be a little sharper defensively and get off to a good start against Orono.
Proctor/Hermantown spent too much time in the penalty box last week but still managed a 3-0 victory over Duluth Marshall in the Section 7A championship game.
Mirage coach Emma Stauber knows penalties are part of the game. She wants her team to still be aggressive, yet smart.
“When it comes down to it, hockey is a game where you have special teams,” Stauber said. “You have these opportunities you have to take advantage of. You just have to make sure you’re ready and prepared for those.
“We had to take care of this opponent first and now we’re going to go back and hit the reset. We’re going to look at our next opponent and prepare for them starting tomorrow.”
Albert Lea 0-1-1—2
Proctor-Hermantown 2-3-1—6
First period — 1. PH, Nya Sieger (Jane Eckstrom), 6:24; 2. PH, Jane Eckstrom (Ava Anick, Katie Sandelin), 12:11.
Second period —3. PH, Izy Fairchild (Eckstrom, Sieger), 1:50 (pp); 4. PH, Hannah Graves (Rylee Gilbertson, Ember Kehtel), 3:11; 5. AL, Liley Steven (Lillian Hernandez), 9:54; 6. PH, Sieger (Reese Heitzman), 13:07 (sh).
Third period — 7. PH, Graves (Kehtel), 13:54; 8. AL, Esther Yoon, 14:10.
Saves — Rachel Doppelhammer, AL, 26; Jayda Moyer, AL, 21; Abby Pajari, PH, 11.
