Girls hockey review: Best season in 14 years

Talk about it

Forgive Rosemount girls hockey coach Tracy Cassano; she just isn’t ready to let the Irish’s loss in the section finals go quite yet.

After finishing with the best record in 14 years for a Rosemount girls hockey team, the Irish can’t get past the season-ending 6-1 loss to Burnsville, one game away from the state tournament.

“For me, honestly, I won’t be over it until next year and if we can get another shot,” Cassano said. “It still bugs me. As time goes, time kind of heals things and you’re able to see and focus on the positives. It was a devastating loss. The key is we can live and learn from that experience.”

The Irish (16-10-2, 10-6-2 Lake) finished the season ranked No. 17 in Class 2A.

While Rosemount won nine of its last 12 games and earned the No. 4 seed in the section tournament, perhaps the defining moment for the Irish came in at the end of December.

Rosemount had lost four games in a row, and five of the past six entering the Farmington tournament. Cassano liked the way her team was playing at the time, but closes losses tested the team’s determination.

Instead of letting the streak tear apart the team’s goals, the Irish rallied around each other.

“We told the girls in a team meeting that we had to stick with our team identity, who we were and what we wanted to accomplish,” Cassano said. “We kept telling them, even though it’s frustrating and disappointing, we all had to decide if we were going to ride the train, to jump on and ride it down the track together and stick with it. Eventually the hard work paid off and those close losses turned into wins. It was because of their attitude and being able to trust in each other.”

What resulted was the a season worth remembering.

Juniors Allison Micheletti and Rachael Kelly were each named all-conference.

Kelly had 31 goals and 20 assist. Her 51 points were good for fourth in the Lake Conference and 26th overall in the state. She was third in the conference in goals scored and 18th in the state.

Micheletti had 25 goals and 25 assists. Her 50 points placed her fifth in the conference and 27th in the state. She was 31st in the state in goals scored and 30th in assists.

Sophomore goaltender Caitlin Dantzscher was named the team’s MVP. She had a 90 percent save percentage and was all-conference honorable mention.

Seniors Rachel Vath and Kayla Goehring were also all-conference honorable mention. Goehring was third on the team in scoring with 13 goals and 14 assists. Jenna Bangerter and Sadie Bigelbach were the remaining two of the Irish’s only four seniors.

Tags: girls hockey, sports, rosemount, irish, prep