Girls hockey wins sections opener
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Grace Bizal, senior, after a stoppage of play.
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Hopkins bench, waiting for the final buzzer to sound.
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Hopkins bench rushes onto the ice to celebrate their win. The girls won 2-1 against Benilde St. Margaret.
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Kylie Hanely, freshman, anxiously awaits a face-off.
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Grace Bizal, senior, receives the puck before passing it off to a teammate.
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Kylie Hanley, freshman, with the puck before taking a shot.
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Corbin Boyd, senior, battling for possession against two BSM players.
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Corbin Boyd, senior, fires a wrist shot on goal.
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Grace Bizal, senior, skates back to the bench with her teammates after a time out is taken.
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Feb 9, 2015
After stumbling into the section 6AA tournament with five straight losses, the girls hockey team earned the fourth seed and a matchup with (9-14-2) fifth seed Benilde St. Margaret’s.
The Royals’ thoughts weren’t to end the losing streak; rather, that this game was the start of a new season they hope will end at the Xcel Energy Center.
This “new season” got off to a promising start as Grace Bizal, senior put a wrist shot past BSM goalie Anna DeGiulio, junior, to give Hopkins a 1-0 lead. Corbin Boyd, senior, would get her 34th assist on the year which is good enough for 11th best in the state.
Less than five minutes later, Stella Haberman, junior would be credited for a Red Knights own-goal for what would turn out to be the game-winning goal.
After a 14-1 shots-on-goal differential in the first period, the game started to lack in the intensity department. The second period would show no goals from either team.
It looked as though the Royals would get an easy win until Red Knights forward Crystal Sorem, junior put Benilde on the board and cut the Royals lead to 2-1.
That shot would be the last of the day for the Red Knights, giving the Royals the victory.
Lake Conference champion and one-seed Minnetonka is next up for the Royals. The Skippers have beaten the Royals by two goals in each of their two previous meetings.
The section semi-final will be played Wednesday, Feb. 11 at 5:30 pm at Parade Ice Garden in St. Paul. The winner will play either Maple Grove or Wayzata for a berth in the state tournament.