Girls hockey: Irish find scoring depth against Apple Valley

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In past seasons, the Rosemount girls hockey team has tried to establish scoring depth behind leading scorers Rachael Kelly and Allison Micheletti.

If last week’s game against Apple Valley is any indication, the Irish finally might have developed the secondary scoring they’ve always desired.

In a 6-0 win against the Eagles, five players scored goals for Rosemount (6-1, 3-1 South Suburban).

“One of the nice things about it is we get five different scorers; one defenseman scored and we got contributions from each line,” Irish coach Tracy Cassano said. “And we had balanced scoring with two goals in each period. So, it was good to balance things out. I thought we played well. (Goaltender Caitlin Dantzscher) had a shutout. That’s always a good thing for her.

Rosemount, which is now ranked No. 12 in Class 2A, travels Saturday for its biggest test of the season. The Irish play No. 6 ranked Lakeville South at Lakeville’s Haase Arena at 2:45 p.m.

More balanced scoring will be needed when Rosemount plays the Panthers.

Eight players have scored goals this season for the Irish. Kelly leads the way with 11 goals, while Micheletti has six. Other players have stepped forward, though.

Including Kelly and Micheletti, six players are averaging a point a game.

Sophomore Kendra Goodrich has five goals and two assists. Sophomore Amanda Comstock has four goals and two assists. Senior Sarah Tollefson has two goals and four assists, while junior Taylor Sampson has three goals and three assists.

Through six games, 11 players have points.

“The top two lines are really getting the job done,” Cassano said. “They’ve done a very good job putting the puck in the net. We talk about roles on the team. I think those two lines are fulfilling those by scoring goals.

“It’s nice to see different kids scoring because you’re going to have off nights, some people might be snake-bitten one night or be on a little cold streak. It’s nice to know we have a bunch of kids we can rely on to score. When one person has an off night, we have others able bury pucks too.”

It wasn’t an off night against Apple Valley last week.

Sampson and Micheletti scored goals in the first period. Goodrich and Tollefson tallied in the second and Kelly scored twice in the third.

Alison Warweg had two assists. Dantzscher made 12 saves.

Game rescheduled

When last Saturday’s road game at Bloomington Kennedy was postponed, the two schools worked quickly to reschedule.

It doesn’t make the December schedule any easier for Rosemount.

The Irish will play Dec. 23 at Bloomington Kennedy.

After Saturday’s game at Lakeville South, Rosemount plays Eagan on Dec. 21, Bloomington Kennedy on Dec. 23 and then will take part in a Farmington tournament the following week.

“It will be busy, but we will enjoy the time,” Cassano said. “The kids will at least be able to enjoy those couple of days. Even those couple of days seems to refresh them. Even the game being canceled last weekend, they seem to have a little extra jump in their step.”

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