Staff photo by Ari Selvey
New Ulm’s Tristyn Wolner gets a shot on goal during a Big South Conference girls hockey game against Worthington Tuesday at the New Ulm Event Center.
NEW ULM — New Ulm’s special teams shined as the Eagles shut out Worthington 8-0 in a Big South Conference girls hockey game Tuesday, scoring once on the power play and twice short-handed.
“I think that was our first power-play goal of the year,” New Ulm head coach Jeremy Reed said. “But this group’s kind of special when it comes to the penalty kill. They kind of enjoy that. We had a game plan for when we did go short-handed today on possessing the puck, so I was very proud of how that went today.”
New Ulm’s Malorie Anderson got a hat trick in the game, including the first goal of the game. Usually a defenseman, Anderson got a crack at forward due to injuries this game and came through big for her team.
“I really have to give it to my teammates,” Anderson said. “I don’t usually play forward, but today I got kind of thrown in with some injuries, and we were able to connect. We had good puck movement, lots of talking. The puck movement between my teammates and keeping our heads up and knowing where to put the puck.”
Madalynn Olson also had a hat trick for the Eagles, scoring both of the short-handed goals for New Ulm. Afton Hulke and Lilly Kral had a goal apiece.
Anderson opened the scoring at 4:28 in the first period with an assist by Tristyn Wolner. New Ulm kept up the pressure for the duration of the period but couldn’t put the puck back in the net until 14:13 on a goal by Hulke. New Ulm picked up a penalty with a minute to go in the period, but the Eagles got a hold of the puck and Olson broke away on another assist by Wolner to score the Eagle’s third goal of the period.
New Ulm took another penalty in the closing seconds of the first period, so it opened the second with a five-on-three situation. They successfully killed both penalties, however, and continued to put shots on goal, with Kral coming away with a goal at 6:26 in the second after being dished the puck from behind the net by Abby Forstner. Anderson scored her second goal on a slap shot, assisted by Brogan Hulke, at 11:35 in the second to put the Eagles up 5-0.
Olson used her speed once again to take her second goal on a breakaway at 6:50 in the third. After a tripping penalty by the Trojans, Anderson cashed in with another long goal, assisted by Wolner and Afton Hulke, at 8:50 in the third. A hooking call on New Ulm was no problem for Olson as she sliced her way to her second goal short-handed for the hat trick at 12:06 in the third for the eighth and final goal of the game.
Reed said his team found the success they did because of their playmaking and ability to spread the puck around.
“We want to continue to improve and get better each and every day,” Reed said. “The nice thing is that I thought we did a very good job on the puck, possession-wise, though this game. We saw some very unselfish play, with was really nice to see from the girls. They were distributing the puck well, they were using their teammates well, and it was very nice to see. That distribution is something that we’re going to have to look to carry forward.”
Ava Schmidt stopped seven shots in net for New Ulm.
New Ulm (2-2) travels to Hutchinson on Tuesday.
