Breck Girls Hockey Beats New Ulm, Advances To State Semifinals

Just how good were the Mustangs on Wednesday? Look no further than the second period.

The Breck girls hockey team notched seven goals, killed off a 5-on-3 penalty with ease and outshot a helpless New Ulm squad 23-3 during the Class A quarterfinal’s second frame. The end result was a 12-1 Mustangs win and a trip to Friday’s 11 a.m. state semifinal at the Xcel Energy Center.

“Everyone just settled down and got used to the atmosphere,” senior Kayla Mork said. “It was good for us to come out and have a good second period.”

Simply put, Breck (17-11-1) out-skated, out-muscled and out-performed the Eagles from the game’s opening faceoff.

Junior center Prentice Basten led the charge with three goals and an assist in the game. Mork and junior Carly Schaeder each chipped in two goals, and Katherine Schipper and Milica McMillen each had a goal and four assists in the contest.

“They were incredibly fast,” New Ulm coach Angela Zeig said. “They didn’t stop moving their feet. We found ourselves chasing after the puck a lot of the game. We were going after the puck, which was evading us quite often.”

Zeig and the Eagles (12-11-2) are making their third consecutive state tournament appearance, but for the third straight year New Ulm was unable to advance to the championship semifinals.

The Mustangs beat New Ulm 10-0 in last year’s quarterfinal matchup.

This time around, Breck controlled the tempo and, at times, seemed to be playing keep away with the puck. The Mustangs finished the game out-shooting New Ulm 56-6.

For Breck coach Lenny Vannelli, the win was reflective of the difficult non-conference schedule the Mustangs faced during the regular season.

“We have a pretty competitive small conference,” he said. “We were able to get a lot of AA schools (on the schedule), five of those AA schools are in the tournament and will play tomorrow.”

That experience helped Breck get to this point, and Vannelli said it was that experience that helped the Mustangs reach Friday’s semifinals. 

GAME SUMMARY

New Ulm 0 0 1 — 1

Breck 3 7 2 — 12

Scoring — First period: 2:42 BRECK Katherine Schipper (Milica McMillen), 3:02 BRECK Karinia Marette (McMillen, Prentice Basten), 4:22 BRECK McMillen (Schipper). Second period: 0:33 BRECK Kayla Mork (Carly Schaeder, Schipper), 8:30 BRECK Schaeder (Mork, Claire Mancheski), 8:49 BRECK Basten (Isabel Gleekel), 11:08 BRECK Mork (Schipper, Schaeder), 11:47 BRECK Basten (Brianna Bruggeman), 13:56 BRECK Schaeder (McMillen), 14:23 BRECK Basten (Marette, Megan Sweet). Third period: 10:36 BRECK Caroline Grothe (Mork, McMillen), 13:11 BRECK Natalie Roberts (Alexandra Wallin, Schaeder), 16:55 NU Alexa Weiss (Chelsie Salonek). Shots on goal — NU 6, BRECK 56. Power plays — 56. Saves — NU Shalyn Salonek 20, Julia Schaefer; BRECK Taylor Neisen