Storm place third in invitational play
The MBA Storm 12U girls hockey team hosted a tournament on Feb. 4-5 at
Lee Center, joined by Alexandria, Fargo and St. Francis in this
round-robin tourney in which all teams played each other once, earning
points for wins and ties. MBA ended up third, winning one and losing two.
St. Francis was the first place team, Fargo took runner-up and
Alexandria ended up in fourth.

Game 1 for the Storm had them going against Alexandria, and after an
initial goal by Alex it was the Storm girls dominating. The Storm won 5-1.
Dani Schultz had the hot stick that day as this Storm player scored four
of the team’s five goals. Dani’s first was assisted by Celyst Evenson in
the first period, shortly after the Alex goal. MBA was assessed one
penalty for tripping.

In the second period, Dani scored early with an assist by defenseman
Lizzy Vick. The Storm hit the net hard, and Celyst Evenson scored
assisted by Dani Schultz. Dani ended the period with one more goal, this
time assisted by Hailey Kotts.

The third period saw one goal scored by Schultz, assisted by Kendra
Schwendemann early in the period. MBA was called for a roughing penalty.
Goalie Rachel Staton had another great game as she stopped 20 shots on
goal. MBA coaches were happy about the team’s play.
The Storm’s game 2 in their home tournament developed into an exciting
affair, with the Golden Bears of Fargo supplying the opposition. MBA was
edged 4-3.

At the Fargo tournament earlier this season, MBA never got a chance to
play those Golden Bears, and in the Morris tourney the Storm proved
ready for the challenge.

Dani Schultz scored first, unassisted, and Fargo answered back for a
goal. The second period saw Fargo score first, then MBA’s Schultz
answered back with another unassisted goal to tie the score up, but not
for long as Fargo scored shortly thereafter to make the score 3-2.
Dani then tied it up with an assist by Celyst Evenson within 15 seconds
of Fargo’s goal. The third period saw Fargo score to bring the score to 4-3.
MBA skaters tried hard to answer back as they sent 12 shots at Fargo’s
goalie in the third period. Goalie Rachel Staton had another excellent
game with 41 saves.

“Our girls played an excellent game against a very tough Fargo team,”
coach Craig Lindblad said. “We have nothing to hang our heads about.”
Sunday morning of the Morris tourney found MBA going up against the team
destined to be the champion: St. Francis. St. Francis proved to be a
very tough opponent and they skated to a 7-0 win over the Storm.
The Storm weren’t in a very exclusive club getting shut out by St.
Francis. St. Francis shut out all three of the other teams in this
tourney to garner first place honors.

MBA did play tough, and both teams went to the penalty box throughout
the game. But St. Francis played a great game and showed off their
offensive skills, according to coach Lindblad.