Orioles and Hawks Migrating?
It's been rumored for years that St. Louis Park and Robbinsdale Cooper High School's would someday choose to leave the Classic Lake Conference. Richfield High School made the jump several years ago because the school's athletic teams were not competing with schools with much larger enrollment figures like Wayzata, Hopkins, Armstrong, Minnetonka and Edina. A logical choice for St. Louis Park and Cooper would be to join the Metro Alliance Conference that features teams like Orono, Brooklyn Center, Mound Westonka, Fridley, Benilde St. Margaret's and Columbia Heights. The question then becomes what happens to the five teams remaining in the Classic Lake? Another logical move would be for the Lake and Classic Lake to combine and then split into a west and east conference. Eden Prairie and Chaska could join the current Classic Lake teams to form the Lake West Conference. The eight remaining Lake Conference teams could form the Lake East Conference.
Ellen's Ass Safe For Now
Ellen "Kiss My Baby Ass" on MTV's Real World/Road Rules 'BOTS' made it through last week's episode without Puck kicking her ass. While Puck was off crying and getting married, Ellen and Tonya found time to take a little cruise in the trusty paddleboat. My wish from last week came true as plenty of nudity was shown this week including Aneesa's blurred chest which earned me mega points in the BOTS Fantasy Challenge
Orono Boys Hockey Improves to 18-2
By Matt Thomas (From 02/04 edition of The Lakeshore Weekly News)
After a third place finish in last year’s Class A State Tournament, the Orono Spartans have tasted success. A core of talented returning players like Glenn Ylitalo, Pat Dynan and Ryan McClure have the Spartans eyeing another State Tournament appearance as the team sits with an 18-2 record entering the month of February.
The Spartans notched two more impressive victories last week, including a 4-0 shutout of Litchfield-Dassel Cokato.
The Spartans got things going early with two first period goals. Junior forward Josh Pauer broke a scoreless tie when he scored with assists from Drew Armstrong and Sam Kelley.
Just over a minute later the Spartans leading scorer on the season, Ylitalo, intercepted a lazy Dragons pass and scored to make it 2-0.
“Our line with Glenn Ylitalo, Pat Dynan and Will Smith really moves the puck well,” Armstrong said. “They’ve been playing together since they were squirts I think and they bring a lot of offensive intensity for us.”
Ylitalo is among the top five in the state in scoring this season with 22 goals and 33 assists on the season.
The Spartans saw their scoring chances dwindle in the second period as penalties kept the Spartans shorthanded.
With 2:21 left in the period, however, Dynan snuck behind the Dragons defense and scored a shorthanded goal on a breakaway.
Special teams have been huge for the Spartans this season as their power play and penalty killing units have played well all season.
“Our power play is a little over 30 percent and our penalty kill is at 95 percent,” Armstrong said. “So our special teams have been really good.”
The Spartans went into the locker room after the second period with a three goal lead after killing off three Dragon power plays.
With McClure in net the Spartans had scored all the goals they needed, but 1:20 into the third period they added another from senior Jonathan Skoog to make it 4-0.
McClure made 22 stops in goal to earn his fifth shutout of the season.
“Ryan has been unbelievably consistent,” Armstrong said. “He doesn’t give up bad goals. He stops everything he should and makes a couple of saves beyond that. When you get goaltending like that you win a lot of games.”
Despite the 18-2 record, the Spartans still have a sore spot on their minds: A 4-2 loss to conference rival Benilde-St. Margaret’s.
“We’ve been playing better the last couple weeks,” Armstrong said. “We really didn’t play well against Benilde so I think our kids are really looking forward to the rematch to see if we can give them a better game this time.”
The Spartans and Red Knights will face off on Thursday, Feb. 6 at the Orono Ice Arena at 7p.m. The Spartans need a victory if they want to win or share the Metro Alliance Conference title.
“We need to stay away from odd man rushes because we gave up four open breakaways and at least a dozen odd man rushes the first time we played,” Armstrong said. “You just can’t do that against good team because they bury you.”
Looking past the end of the conference season and into section playoff time, the Spartans should be favored to advance to the State Tournament out of their respective section. Armstrong knows, however, getting to state will not be an easy task.
“Shakopee, Prior Lake and Mound Westonka could all come out of the section along with ourselves,” Armstrong said. “We’ve played both Prior Lake and Shakopee and both were one goal games.”
Blake Tops Rival Breck 5-1
By Matt Thomas (From 02/04 edition of The Lakeshore Weekly News)
If you asked most sports fans what the biggest sporting event in the past two weeks was you would probably hear the words Super Bowl. Unless, of course, you attend Blake or Breck high schools in which case last Tuesday’s boys hockey game between the Bears and Mustangs would be the answer.
“Every year we look forward to this game on our schedule,” Blake junior forward Will Engasser said. “It’s the first thing we look for.”
After the Mustangs grabbed an early 1-0 lead, the Bears scored five unanswered goals to earn a hard fought 5-1 victory. The win not only gives the Bears bragging rights for now, but it also puts them atop the standings in the Tri Metro Conference.
“I knew we could come back, because we’ve been down by one before in tough games,” Engasser said. “We were all positive on the bench and it all worked out.”
“Breck is a tremendously talented team and they worked very hard,” Bears head coach John Hamre said. “Some nights you’re fortunate enough to get some breaks, so I give the kids on both teams credit because both sides competed extremely hard.”
After the Mustangs took the early lead, Engasser took it upon himself to even the score at one. With 3:14 left in the first period, the Bears six foot, two inch, 220 pound forward got the equalizer on a nifty move around the net.
“I came down and the puck was loose in the slot,” Engasser said. “I came across the net and I had most of the net so I just laid it in.”
Engasser’s goal appeared to be just what the Bears needed to boost their confidence. After a fairly even first period, the Bears took control of the puck for a majority of the rest of the game.
The Bears took their first lead of the game with 6:27 remaining in the second period when junior Andrew Schremp scored unassisted.
Less than four minutes later, Engasser gave the Bears a two goal cushion with his second of the game.
“There was a clutter in front of the net and I just got my stick on the puck for another backhand goal,” Engasser said.
After outshooting the Mustangs 15-8 in the second period, the Bears had all the momentum going into the final period.
Juniors Rob Page and J.T. Wyman added third period goals for the Bears, while junior goaltender Justin Kowalkoski played superbly in net.
“[Justin] was unbelievable tonight, I’ve never seen him play any better,” Engasser said.
Kowalkoski stopped 21 of 22 shots on the night to earn the victory. Mustangs goalie Troy Ciernia stopped 31 of the 36 shots the Bears sent his way.
“Tonight Justin played just tremendously and made a couple of big saves in both the second and third periods,” Hamre said. “I give Justin tremendous credit for his work ethic and efforts.”
The victory gives the Bears a 15-3-1 record overall and a perfect 4-0 mark in the Tri Metro Conference.
While the team will enjoy being in first place for now, they know they have to travel to Breck’s home rink on February 15.
“I think they’re going to come back with some intensity, and I think we should be able to match it if we play our game,” Engasser said.
The Bears have four games on their schedule before they collide with the Mustangs again, and those games are what Hamre is focusing on right now.
“We’re looking to take things one day at a time,” Hamre said. “We’re looking to improve, to get better, to work hard and to have fun one day at a time.”
The Bears will host St. Paul Academy on Thursday, Feb. 6 before traveling to Red Wing on Saturday, Feb. 8.
Siverling Leads Armstrong to Victory
By Matt Thomas (From 02/04 edition of The Lakeshore Weekly News)
With over a dozen players seeing varsity minutes this year for the Armstrong girls basketball team, it has been a balanced effort in the scoring column. Somebody different seems to step up each time the Falcons earn a victory and last Friday that somebody was junior Holly Siverling.
The Falcons and Minnetonka Skippers were facing each other for the second time in conference play this season after the Falcons won the first contest 54-43. The second time around was no different as poor shooting plagued the Skippers and gave the Falcons a 55-37 victory.
The Falcons got off to an 8-0 start as the Skippers missed their first eight shots from the floor. Five different Falcons scored in the first period, led by senior Katie Oxborough’s five points as the Falcons took a 14-7 lead.
The Skippers got back on track in the second period as junior Leslie Anderson came off the bench to hit two three pointers.
The Falcons, however, maintained a one point lead at halftime thanks to their ability to get to the free throw line. The Falcons made 8-11 first half free throws to take a 23-22 lead into halftime.
At halftime, Siverling had only five points, but that was about to change. The Falcons started the second half on a 13-3 run as Siverling made four of eight shots from the field.
“We realized that our running game was better, so we really tried to push the ball up more without committing turnovers,” Siverling said.
The smaller Skippers had a hard time defending the Falcons posts in the paint, as the Falcons jumped out to a 38-29 lead.
“I saw a lot of good things from all the posts tonight,” Weldon said. “Holly definitely had her best game tonight at both ends. She can be our go-to girl and she made some good decisions out there.”
The Falcons continued to work their inside game in the fourth quarter and put things away by outscoring the Skippers 17-8.
“I just tried to let them bang me and draw fouls and that seemed to work tonight,” Siverling said.
Until the Skippers hit two three pointers in the final minute, they went 1-21 from the floor in the fourth quarter.
Siverling finished with a game high 18 points on 6-11 from the floor and 6-8 from the line. Oxborough added nine while Becky Andrus chipped in eight.
The Skippers never got on track shooting the ball as they went 13-58 as a team from the floor. Free throws weren’t any easier for the Skippers as they went just 6-14 from the line.
The Falcons shot only 19-46 from the field, but earned the victory at the free throw line where they went 16-23.
The Falcons are now two games above .500 at 10-8 overall while they sit at 4-3 in conference play.
The Falcons have a challenging week ahead of them as they face two teams ahead of them in the conference standings, Wayzata and Hopkins.
“We have a big week with Wayzata on Tuesday and Hopkins on Friday,” Weldon said. “We didn’t know how to finish games early in the season and I think we have truly turned the corner here and we’ll see what we can do.”
No team in the conference has come with 15 points of beating Hopkins, and the Falcons know they will have to play an almost perfect game to beat the Royals.
“We know they are a fast team, but we have some pretty quick guards who can push the ball up too,” Siverling said. “We obviously have to try and stop (Leslie) Knight and (Jordan) Barnes because they are their best players.”
Ambrose, Dolland Return to Minnesota
By Matt Thomas (From 02/04 edition of The Lakeshore Weekly News)
Two Blake School alumni returned to Minneapolis on Sunday, Feb. 2 as part of the Northwestern women’s basketball team.
Sophomore Kristin Ambrose and senior Leslie Dolland took on the 15th ranked Golden Gophers at Williams Arena last weekend. The Gophers prevailed 67-56.
Ambrose kept the Wildcats in the game in the first half as she came off the bench to score nine points. The Gophers held her scoreless in the second half, but Ambrose finished 4-6 from the field with five rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots in 25 minutes of action.
Dolland also made an impact by playing 11 minutes off the bench. The senior from Bloomington scored four points and gathered two rebounds.
Amrbose originally attended the University of Virginia, but decided to transfer to Northwestern after her freshman year.
After sitting out a year, she is fourth on the Wildcats in scoring at 5.7 points per game. She is shooting 32 percent from the field and 78 percent from the free throw line.
Dolland is averaging 3.2 points and 2.5 rebounds per game for the Wildcats who are now 6-15 on the season after losing their ninth straight game.
It's been rumored for years that St. Louis Park and Robbinsdale Cooper High School's would someday choose to leave the Classic Lake Conference. Richfield High School made the jump several years ago because the school's athletic teams were not competing with schools with much larger enrollment figures like Wayzata, Hopkins, Armstrong, Minnetonka and Edina. A logical choice for St. Louis Park and Cooper would be to join the Metro Alliance Conference that features teams like Orono, Brooklyn Center, Mound Westonka, Fridley, Benilde St. Margaret's and Columbia Heights. The question then becomes what happens to the five teams remaining in the Classic Lake? Another logical move would be for the Lake and Classic Lake to combine and then split into a west and east conference. Eden Prairie and Chaska could join the current Classic Lake teams to form the Lake West Conference. The eight remaining Lake Conference teams could form the Lake East Conference.
Ellen's Ass Safe For Now
Ellen "Kiss My Baby Ass" on MTV's Real World/Road Rules 'BOTS' made it through last week's episode without Puck kicking her ass. While Puck was off crying and getting married, Ellen and Tonya found time to take a little cruise in the trusty paddleboat. My wish from last week came true as plenty of nudity was shown this week including Aneesa's blurred chest which earned me mega points in the BOTS Fantasy Challenge
Orono Boys Hockey Improves to 18-2
By Matt Thomas (From 02/04 edition of The Lakeshore Weekly News)
After a third place finish in last year’s Class A State Tournament, the Orono Spartans have tasted success. A core of talented returning players like Glenn Ylitalo, Pat Dynan and Ryan McClure have the Spartans eyeing another State Tournament appearance as the team sits with an 18-2 record entering the month of February.
The Spartans notched two more impressive victories last week, including a 4-0 shutout of Litchfield-Dassel Cokato.
The Spartans got things going early with two first period goals. Junior forward Josh Pauer broke a scoreless tie when he scored with assists from Drew Armstrong and Sam Kelley.
Just over a minute later the Spartans leading scorer on the season, Ylitalo, intercepted a lazy Dragons pass and scored to make it 2-0.
“Our line with Glenn Ylitalo, Pat Dynan and Will Smith really moves the puck well,” Armstrong said. “They’ve been playing together since they were squirts I think and they bring a lot of offensive intensity for us.”
Ylitalo is among the top five in the state in scoring this season with 22 goals and 33 assists on the season.
The Spartans saw their scoring chances dwindle in the second period as penalties kept the Spartans shorthanded.
With 2:21 left in the period, however, Dynan snuck behind the Dragons defense and scored a shorthanded goal on a breakaway.
Special teams have been huge for the Spartans this season as their power play and penalty killing units have played well all season.
“Our power play is a little over 30 percent and our penalty kill is at 95 percent,” Armstrong said. “So our special teams have been really good.”
The Spartans went into the locker room after the second period with a three goal lead after killing off three Dragon power plays.
With McClure in net the Spartans had scored all the goals they needed, but 1:20 into the third period they added another from senior Jonathan Skoog to make it 4-0.
McClure made 22 stops in goal to earn his fifth shutout of the season.
“Ryan has been unbelievably consistent,” Armstrong said. “He doesn’t give up bad goals. He stops everything he should and makes a couple of saves beyond that. When you get goaltending like that you win a lot of games.”
Despite the 18-2 record, the Spartans still have a sore spot on their minds: A 4-2 loss to conference rival Benilde-St. Margaret’s.
“We’ve been playing better the last couple weeks,” Armstrong said. “We really didn’t play well against Benilde so I think our kids are really looking forward to the rematch to see if we can give them a better game this time.”
The Spartans and Red Knights will face off on Thursday, Feb. 6 at the Orono Ice Arena at 7p.m. The Spartans need a victory if they want to win or share the Metro Alliance Conference title.
“We need to stay away from odd man rushes because we gave up four open breakaways and at least a dozen odd man rushes the first time we played,” Armstrong said. “You just can’t do that against good team because they bury you.”
Looking past the end of the conference season and into section playoff time, the Spartans should be favored to advance to the State Tournament out of their respective section. Armstrong knows, however, getting to state will not be an easy task.
“Shakopee, Prior Lake and Mound Westonka could all come out of the section along with ourselves,” Armstrong said. “We’ve played both Prior Lake and Shakopee and both were one goal games.”
Blake Tops Rival Breck 5-1
By Matt Thomas (From 02/04 edition of The Lakeshore Weekly News)
If you asked most sports fans what the biggest sporting event in the past two weeks was you would probably hear the words Super Bowl. Unless, of course, you attend Blake or Breck high schools in which case last Tuesday’s boys hockey game between the Bears and Mustangs would be the answer.
“Every year we look forward to this game on our schedule,” Blake junior forward Will Engasser said. “It’s the first thing we look for.”
After the Mustangs grabbed an early 1-0 lead, the Bears scored five unanswered goals to earn a hard fought 5-1 victory. The win not only gives the Bears bragging rights for now, but it also puts them atop the standings in the Tri Metro Conference.
“I knew we could come back, because we’ve been down by one before in tough games,” Engasser said. “We were all positive on the bench and it all worked out.”
“Breck is a tremendously talented team and they worked very hard,” Bears head coach John Hamre said. “Some nights you’re fortunate enough to get some breaks, so I give the kids on both teams credit because both sides competed extremely hard.”
After the Mustangs took the early lead, Engasser took it upon himself to even the score at one. With 3:14 left in the first period, the Bears six foot, two inch, 220 pound forward got the equalizer on a nifty move around the net.
“I came down and the puck was loose in the slot,” Engasser said. “I came across the net and I had most of the net so I just laid it in.”
Engasser’s goal appeared to be just what the Bears needed to boost their confidence. After a fairly even first period, the Bears took control of the puck for a majority of the rest of the game.
The Bears took their first lead of the game with 6:27 remaining in the second period when junior Andrew Schremp scored unassisted.
Less than four minutes later, Engasser gave the Bears a two goal cushion with his second of the game.
“There was a clutter in front of the net and I just got my stick on the puck for another backhand goal,” Engasser said.
After outshooting the Mustangs 15-8 in the second period, the Bears had all the momentum going into the final period.
Juniors Rob Page and J.T. Wyman added third period goals for the Bears, while junior goaltender Justin Kowalkoski played superbly in net.
“[Justin] was unbelievable tonight, I’ve never seen him play any better,” Engasser said.
Kowalkoski stopped 21 of 22 shots on the night to earn the victory. Mustangs goalie Troy Ciernia stopped 31 of the 36 shots the Bears sent his way.
“Tonight Justin played just tremendously and made a couple of big saves in both the second and third periods,” Hamre said. “I give Justin tremendous credit for his work ethic and efforts.”
The victory gives the Bears a 15-3-1 record overall and a perfect 4-0 mark in the Tri Metro Conference.
While the team will enjoy being in first place for now, they know they have to travel to Breck’s home rink on February 15.
“I think they’re going to come back with some intensity, and I think we should be able to match it if we play our game,” Engasser said.
The Bears have four games on their schedule before they collide with the Mustangs again, and those games are what Hamre is focusing on right now.
“We’re looking to take things one day at a time,” Hamre said. “We’re looking to improve, to get better, to work hard and to have fun one day at a time.”
The Bears will host St. Paul Academy on Thursday, Feb. 6 before traveling to Red Wing on Saturday, Feb. 8.
Siverling Leads Armstrong to Victory
By Matt Thomas (From 02/04 edition of The Lakeshore Weekly News)
With over a dozen players seeing varsity minutes this year for the Armstrong girls basketball team, it has been a balanced effort in the scoring column. Somebody different seems to step up each time the Falcons earn a victory and last Friday that somebody was junior Holly Siverling.
The Falcons and Minnetonka Skippers were facing each other for the second time in conference play this season after the Falcons won the first contest 54-43. The second time around was no different as poor shooting plagued the Skippers and gave the Falcons a 55-37 victory.
The Falcons got off to an 8-0 start as the Skippers missed their first eight shots from the floor. Five different Falcons scored in the first period, led by senior Katie Oxborough’s five points as the Falcons took a 14-7 lead.
The Skippers got back on track in the second period as junior Leslie Anderson came off the bench to hit two three pointers.
The Falcons, however, maintained a one point lead at halftime thanks to their ability to get to the free throw line. The Falcons made 8-11 first half free throws to take a 23-22 lead into halftime.
At halftime, Siverling had only five points, but that was about to change. The Falcons started the second half on a 13-3 run as Siverling made four of eight shots from the field.
“We realized that our running game was better, so we really tried to push the ball up more without committing turnovers,” Siverling said.
The smaller Skippers had a hard time defending the Falcons posts in the paint, as the Falcons jumped out to a 38-29 lead.
“I saw a lot of good things from all the posts tonight,” Weldon said. “Holly definitely had her best game tonight at both ends. She can be our go-to girl and she made some good decisions out there.”
The Falcons continued to work their inside game in the fourth quarter and put things away by outscoring the Skippers 17-8.
“I just tried to let them bang me and draw fouls and that seemed to work tonight,” Siverling said.
Until the Skippers hit two three pointers in the final minute, they went 1-21 from the floor in the fourth quarter.
Siverling finished with a game high 18 points on 6-11 from the floor and 6-8 from the line. Oxborough added nine while Becky Andrus chipped in eight.
The Skippers never got on track shooting the ball as they went 13-58 as a team from the floor. Free throws weren’t any easier for the Skippers as they went just 6-14 from the line.
The Falcons shot only 19-46 from the field, but earned the victory at the free throw line where they went 16-23.
The Falcons are now two games above .500 at 10-8 overall while they sit at 4-3 in conference play.
The Falcons have a challenging week ahead of them as they face two teams ahead of them in the conference standings, Wayzata and Hopkins.
“We have a big week with Wayzata on Tuesday and Hopkins on Friday,” Weldon said. “We didn’t know how to finish games early in the season and I think we have truly turned the corner here and we’ll see what we can do.”
No team in the conference has come with 15 points of beating Hopkins, and the Falcons know they will have to play an almost perfect game to beat the Royals.
“We know they are a fast team, but we have some pretty quick guards who can push the ball up too,” Siverling said. “We obviously have to try and stop (Leslie) Knight and (Jordan) Barnes because they are their best players.”
Ambrose, Dolland Return to Minnesota
By Matt Thomas (From 02/04 edition of The Lakeshore Weekly News)
Two Blake School alumni returned to Minneapolis on Sunday, Feb. 2 as part of the Northwestern women’s basketball team.
Sophomore Kristin Ambrose and senior Leslie Dolland took on the 15th ranked Golden Gophers at Williams Arena last weekend. The Gophers prevailed 67-56.
Ambrose kept the Wildcats in the game in the first half as she came off the bench to score nine points. The Gophers held her scoreless in the second half, but Ambrose finished 4-6 from the field with five rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots in 25 minutes of action.
Dolland also made an impact by playing 11 minutes off the bench. The senior from Bloomington scored four points and gathered two rebounds.
Amrbose originally attended the University of Virginia, but decided to transfer to Northwestern after her freshman year.
After sitting out a year, she is fourth on the Wildcats in scoring at 5.7 points per game. She is shooting 32 percent from the field and 78 percent from the free throw line.
Dolland is averaging 3.2 points and 2.5 rebounds per game for the Wildcats who are now 6-15 on the season after losing their ninth straight game.
posted by PulseofMN at 9:51 AM
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