On Dec. 8, the Stars played the Princeton Tigers on home ice. It was a close game until the second period when the Stars scored two goals to get ahead. They were scored by Kari Turkowski and Courtney Karsch. Turkowski’s goal was assisted by Natalie Rinn and Karsch’s goal was unassisted. The Tigers barely slipped one by the Stars goalie, Shari Vogt, to end the second period with a 2-1 score.
The Stars went out onto the ice before the last period knowing that if they wanted to win they had to skate hard and score. That is what they did to end the game with a 3-1 score. The last goal was scored by Melissa Jungles and was assisted by Turkowski. Everyone played as a team and in return for a victory.
Grand Rapids
On Friday, Dec. 11, the Stars left early to travel to Grand Rapids. They were going “road trippin” and they were excited. They arrived in Grand Rapids, checked into the hotel, and were off to play hockey. The Stars were having a blast and wanted to keep it that way for the whole weekend by taking home two victories.
It was tough competition in the first period. The Stars were trying so hard to score and get ahead but, no such luck. In the locker room before the second period, Coach VanBeusekom said a couple of things that made the Stars realize they weren’t going to accept a loss after traveling three hours. No way! They were really pumped up and stepped out on the ice wanting to win. They skated hard and played great but, unfortunately, no goals were scored by the Stars and Grand Rapids snuck one by, ending the second period with a score of 0-1.
Before the third and last period, the coaches never came in the locker room, which meant we had to figure out as a team what they had to do to pull this off. The captains and other players did a great job of that. They were cheering and screaming before the time was up. They had never been so pumped up before. They main object was to skate to every single puck as hard as they could and play as a team.
With a few great plays and great teamwork, Turkowski scored a great goal in the very beginning of the period, that was assisted by Rinn. With tough competition behind them, the Stars scored another goal with three minutes left in the period. That is how the game ended too, with a score of Stars 2 and Grand Rapids 1.
There was a fun celebration that night at the hotel. The players, coaches, and fans were all proud of how they played.
Eveleth
To prepare themselves for another hour and one-half drive and a 1 p.m. game in Eveleth, the girls and the coaches went out for breakfast as a team. Besides the fact they got lost, the Stars were still having fun. They did arrive in Eveleth in plenty of time. Actually, the team arrived early enough to go see the Hockey Hall of Fame. This was a treat for the the girls and they were really excited. They got there and walked around, took pictures, and treated themselves at the gift shop.
To start in goal was Jessie Simon. Although she was a little nervous, she did a wonderful job and is improving with every game she plays.
The Stars started off a little slow, but were able to score their first goal at the end of the period. The goal was scored by Rinn, which was assisted by Missy Sieben. Coming into the locker room, the Stars realized they were only up by one, they went out on the ice, had some great plays, and scored another three goals in the second period. They were scored by Rinn, Turkowski, and Marya Lowinski. The Stars were really excited by their 4-0 lead.
The last period was a fun period for the Stars, yet competitive. Eveleth wasn’t going to give up. Mary Beth Johannes was put in the penalty box for tripping and also for misconduct. Turkowski was also called with a penalty, slashing. The Stars were still excited and the last goal was scored by Rinn to give her a hat trick. The final score was 5-0. Great job, girls.
Even though the Stars had a long trip back home, they were proud of their victories and new 9-1 record.