EAST GRAND FORKS – It took no. 3 seed East Grand Forks eight seconds to take control in its Section 8A matchup with No. 6 International Falls on Saturday at the East Grand Forks Civic Center.
Off the opening faceoff, Blake Schultz was able to carry the puck into the zone and play it to Kara Ellis, who then found Maggey Plante and before everyone could sit down from the national anthem, Plante’s shot was in the back of the net.
It was the start of an avalanche of offense and a 17-0 Section 8A quarterfinal win.
Ellis finished the game with three goals and six assists, Schultz led the game in goals with four and three assists while Plante had a pair of goals and three helpers. In total, there were 10 Green Wave skaters who contributed multi-point efforts, including regular season leading scorer Kendra Emery.
“Didn’t know what to expect from this game since we haven’t seen International Falls all year, so I’m hoping this is a good confidence builder for us heading into Monday. We know we’re going to be in a battle with Crookston,” East Grand Forks coach Brian Larson said.
The confidence was evident at the start of each period. After Plante’s goal in the first, Schultz scored goals in the second and third period before the first minute. As possessions continued, shots mounted with the Green Wave winning the battle 63-10.
Next in line in the Section 8A tournament will be No. 2 Crookston, which split with East Grand Forks this year via a win, loss and tie.
“We’ve won by a goal, we’ve lost by two with an empty-net goal, we’ve tied so I’m expecting it to be a battle from start to finish and hopefully we didn’t use all of our goals up,” said Larson.
On the other side of the semifinals will be the winner of the first-seeded Warroad and No. 4 Thief River Falls. The Warriors have been a powerhouse this year and previously beat East Grand Wave 12-0 at the start of the season.
Warroad also bounced East Grand Forks from last year’s regional tournament, leaving some room for vengeance for the Green Wave.
“If you get by Crookston and make it to that championship game, anything can happen, but you’ve got to get there. Hopefully we’ll be able to have some home ice advantage. We’re hoping that will go our way,” Larson said.
Larson was also happy with the chemistry he has seen from his lineup heading into these critical moments of the season. Ellis and Emery have produced the majority of offense, but the likes of Schultz, Plante, Laura Pesch and Jacelyn Brennan have been able to feed off the space Ellis and Emery create.
“I like the way Kara and Kendra are playing here. We’ve found a little more there with Kendra’s line and hopefully that’s what it takes to push us over the edge,” said Larson.
With the semifinals and championship being hosted at the East Grand Forks Civic Center, Monday will see Thief River Falls take on Warroad at 6 pm and East Grand Forks meeting with Crookston once again at 8 pm
First period – 1-0 EGF: Maggey Plante (Kara Ellis, Blake Schultz), 2-0 EGF: Laura Pesch (Kendra Emery), 3-0 EGF: Ellis (Schultz, Plante), 4-0 EGF: Schultz (Plante , Ellis), 5-0 EGF: Aleah Oshie (Claire Beck), 6-0 EGF: Ellis (Beck, Schultz)
Second period – 7-0 EGF: Schultz (Ava Kleinvachter, Ellis), 8-0 EGF: Schultz (Ellis), 9-0 EGF: Pesch (Emery, Beck), 10-0 EGF: Ellis (Plante, Madison Stocker) pp
Third period – 11-0 EGF: Schultz (Ellis), 12-0 EGF: Pesch (Emery, Jacelyn Brendan), 13-0 EGF: Plante, 14-0 EGF: Claire McDonald (Kleinvachter, Ellis), 15-0 EGF : Laurel Kolstoe (Kleinvachter, Maddie Petrovich), 16-0 EGF: McDonald (Kolstoe, Kleinvachter), 17-0 EGF: Kleinvachter (Stocker)
Goalie saves – EGF: Ashley Corbett 2 saves, Britlyn Rasmussen 8 saves IF: Mara Pelland 36 saves, Olivia Master 10 saves
