WARROAD CRUISES PAST TRF IN SECTION 8A GIRLS HOCKEY SEMI’S

The Warroad Warriors scored early and often as they dominated in a 7-1 victory over the Thief River Falls Prowlers in a Section 8A semi-final game played at the Crookston Sports Center.

FIRST PERIOD
It didn’t take long for the eight-time defending section champs and defending state champion Warroad to score, as the first official shot on net was a goal. The first two shots on goal were goals for Warroad. The first goal came 1:44 into the game as Regan Haley slid a pass to Vivienne Marcowka, who let a blast go from inside the blue line, and it snuck past the Prowler goalie for a 1-0 lead.
Warroad struck again 36 seconds later when Cijae McLaughlin got the puck along the boards, skated to the center of the circle, and let a wrist shot fly past the TRF goalie to give the Warriors a 2-0 lead 2:10 into the game.
Warroad continued to control play and fired seven more shots on goal, but Thief River Falls did a better job of clearing traffic from in front of the net and stopped the shots.
Warroad committed its second penalty of the game with just over three minutes left in the period. The one-player advantage allowed Thief River Falls to get their first shot on goal. The Prowlers got another shot on goal, but Warrior goalie Payton Rolli made the kick save to keep the lead at 2-0. Thief River Falls committed its first penalty of the game with over two minutes remaining, and 40 seconds later, Warroad was called for another penalty for 4-on-three hockey for about 20 seconds. Warroad killed the first penalty, and with five seconds left on the four-on-four, Kate Johnson skated the puck up the ice along the boards and put a shot on goal. The puck snuck by the TRF goalie, and Kaiya Sandy was there to slap the puck in to give the Warriors a 3-0 lead, and that is how the first period would end.

SECOND PERIOD
Warroad started the second period strong as they continued to pepper the TRF goal with shots. Over four minutes into the period, the Warriors found the back of the net when Jaylie French got a rebound and stuffed the puck into the net for a 4-0 lead.
Four minutes later, Warroad added another goal when Taylor Reese got a shot on goal, and Maddie Skogman crashed the net and knocked the rebound in for a 5-0 lead halfway through the period.
A little over three minutes later, Warroad struck again as Sophie Johnson slid a pass from one side of the point over to the other side, and Vivienne Marcowka fired a shot through traffic and into the net for a 6-0 Warrior lead. After the goal, Thief River Falls elected to make a goalie change, and that gave the Prowlers a little boost.
Thief River Falls finally scored as Kali Knutson skated the puck up the ice along the boards and used her speed to get past the Warriors, rifled a shot from the circle, and scored to get the Prowlers within a 6-1 deficit.
There was no scoring the rest of the period, and Warroad took a 6-1 lead into the second intermission.

THIRD PERIOD
Warroad continued their domination in the third period as they peppered the Thief River Falls goalie with shot after shot and had eight shots on goal in the first seven minutes, but Prowler goalie Faith Hartman stopped every shot.
Thief River Falls committed a penalty with over six minutes left in the game, and Warroad got two shots in the first nine seconds of the penalty. A few shots later, Warroad’s French scored again to give the Warriors a 7-1 lead, and running time began.
The final five minutes flew by with running time, and Warroad won the game 7-1. Warroad improves to 18-8 on the year and will play the Crookston/EGF winner in the Section 8A Championship on Thursday, February 15, at 7:00 p.m. in the Crookston Sports Center. Thief River Falls ends the season with a 7-18-1 record and says goodbye to the following seniors: Quinnlyn Kenfield, Kora Sorter, Julia Rude, and Camille Berra.

CLICK HERE for Warroad Coach Izzy Marvin’s post-game comments.

1st Period
1:44 – Warroad – Vivienne Marcowka (Reagan Haley)
2:10 – Warroad – Cijae McLaughlin (Mikalya Curtis)
16:28 – Warroad – Kaiya Sandy (Kate Johnson)

2nd Period
4:33 – Warroad – Jaylie French (Karlee Kalbrenner)
8:52 – Warroad – Maddie Skogman (Taylor Reese, Kaiya Sandy)
12:11 – Warroad – Vivienne Marcowka (Sophie Johnson, Karlee Kalbrenner)
14:27 – TRF – Kali Knutson (Unassisted)

3rd Period
11:55 – Jaylie French (Katy Comstock, Taylor Reese) PP

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