Simley Girls Hockey Forges Tie With Sibley

Editor's Note: For more photos from Tuesday's game and the Simley High School girls hockey Parent Night, .

In sports there are winners and there are losers. And then there are the rare occasions where neither team goes home very happy.

That was the case after the Simley Spartans girls’ hockey team’s most recent outing. Trailing Henry Sibley by a goal late in the third period, the Spartans forged a 1-1 overtime tie in the Classic Suburban Conference game. But despite escaping without a loss on a night when they were out-shot, most of the Spartans felt it wasn’t enough.

“It wasn’t pretty,” said a frustrated Simley coach Ashley Albrecht after her team moved to 9-8-1 for the season. “You can tell that our legs are tired.”

The Warriors got on the board first in the later stages of the opening period. Third-line forward Erika Hilstrom, a ninth-grader, got loose on a breakaway and beat Simley goalie Kristen Jung for an unassisted score.

With the Warriors out-shooting Simley in the second and third periods, and Sibley senior goalie Ellen Johnson turning away everything sent her way for the game’s first 43 minutes or so, it looked as if Hilstrom’s goal would hold up. The Warriors were dominating play offensively and were often close to doubling the lead early in the third period, but could not get another shot behind Jung.

“Our defense struggled a little bit in the third period, but they picked it up,” said Jung, who finished with 28 saves. “I feel like we could’ve beat them, so I’m a little bit disappointed with a tie. But it’s so much better than losing, so I’m glad we tied it up at the end.”

The deadlock came after Johnson made the save on an initial shot by Simley’s Sydney Knutson. After a scramble in front of the Warriors’ net, the Spartans’ Jessica Pate was able to push the puck over the goal line to tie the game.

Each team had three shots on goal in the overtime. For Henry Sibley, November and December were filled with frustrating overtime losses. The Warriors came to Inver Grove Heights having won five in a row, and at least extended their unbeaten streak.

“I thought we had way more scoring chances than they did,” said Warriors coach Mike Haedrich. “And our top players were the ones coming in we just couldn't come through tonight. Our top two lines had a lot of scoring chances.”

Instead, the Spartans defense held strong, or at least, strong enough to forge a tie.

“Playing our best, we would’ve won that game,” Albrecht said. “We didn’t play our best, but we came away with a tie, so I guess I’m happy with that.”

The Spartans host Tartan in their next conference game on Friday, Jan. 14.

Correction: Jessica Pate's first name was listed incorrectly in an earlier version of this story.