Minnetonka Prevails on Banner Night

MINNETONKA, Minn - Prior to their 3-1 seasoning loss to the Anoka Tornadoes, the Minnetonka Skippers hadn't lost a regular season game against a Minnesota high school league team since the final game of the 2009-2010 regular season. They ran through their schedule a season ago en route to a state championship, the first in the programs history.

Tuesday night, Minnetonka played host to the Burnsville Blaze in a game that saw the championship banner raised to the Pagel Activity Center rafters, and more importantly for this year team, may have defined the style of hockey needed to compete for another championship. The Skippers found their offensive swagger, played solid defense and received great goaltending from junior Sydney Rossman.

It was junior Amy Peterson who sparked the offense early challenging the Blaze in their own zone and forcing several turnovers. With her agressive pressure, Peterson scored the first goal of the game at 8:01 of the first period on the powerplay when she found a puck in the crease as she skated in and flipped it over Blaze goaltender Madison Schertler.

"When we came into the game, we focused mostly on effort," said Peterson. "We weren't focused on whether the puck bounced our way or not, we just wanted to make sure we went out and worked hard."

Sophomore Diana Draayer scored her first of two goals when she camped unchecked in front of Schertler. Draayer took a nice feed from Laura Bowman and found the back of the net for her first career varsity goal. She would add another in the third period.

Rossman saved all 11 shots that went her way, and the defense, the strength of the team played shutdown helping to hold the Burnsville attack off the scoreboard.

"It was hard coming off a tough loss like that, but we just had to come and focus, and not take any team for granted," said Rossman. "Celebrating the banner hanging from state last year and having our old teammates back gave us more confidence."

The Skippers picked up a short handed goal in the second period. The Skippers continued to press even short handed and the effort paid off with Laura Bowman's first goal of the season.

On a night where everything seemed magical again, maybe it took a visit from some old teammates to get things moving in a positive direction. Last season's goaltender of the year Julie Friend, now playing college hockey at St. Cloud State, Golden Gopher Rachel Ramsey and Gustavus Gustie Carolyn Draayer were three of the former players in attendance for the ceremony during the first intermission.

For the younger Draayer sister, having Carolyn there to witness her first goals was special.

"I was excited. I heard she was coming last night," said Draayer. "When I saw she was here, I was like. Okay, I want to make her proud."

Mission accomplished for the sophomore who scored two goals in her second varsity game, the first at Pagel. In a bit of irony, Carolyn scord two goals in her first game as a Gustie earlier this month.

Just like their season opener, the Skippers outshot the Blaze 38-11. In this case however, the scoreboard reflected the domination and hard work of the team.

"We learned we have defensemen who can move the puck really well," said head coach Erik Johnson when asked what he has learned about his team through two games. "We also learned that we are a much better team when we work hard. If we don't work as hard as we can, we're pretty vulnerable."

Minnetonka jumps right back into action Thursday at Rosemount, then returns home for a date with the defending class A champion Warroad Warriors on Friday night.