Glen Strandberg
Sports Editor

Last Thursday night was not the way head coach Paul Kendrick and his girls hockey team expected their season to end.

On Feb. 8, Forest Lake opened section play as the No. 3 seed, with a home game against the Proctor Mirage. These two teams opened the regular season against each other, in what amounted to a 7-3 Ranger victory.

However, by the end of this contest, anyone associated with Forest Lake probably felt like they were seeing things, as Proctor hung tough until the third period, and then took the rematch by the score of 3-1.

“I thought the girls played a terrific game, came out with a lot of energy; really controlled the tempo from the start of the game to the end of the game,” Kendrick said. “It was just unfortunate that the puck didn’t go our way earlier, especially those first two periods when we were really taking it to them.”

With a faster pace and more intensity, Thursday night had that playoff feel. Forest Lake outshot the Mirage 24-14 after 34 minutes of action, but the score showed matching donuts as the game headed to the final period

At the 5:22 mark of the third, Proctor’s Julia Gilbert broke the scoreless tie, but Kate Haglund would tie it up for the Rangers just 30 seconds later.

Even more physical play ensued as both teams raced up and down the ice, but then the entire season was on the line with 5:24 remaining in the game. After a long discussion, where a high sticking call eliminated a goal for the Mirage, Proctor’s Sarah Edgerton was then ruled to have deflected the puck at a legal limit, thereby scoring the game-winner. The Mirage would notch another goal on an open net, and there went Forest Lake’s season — disappearing right before the Rangers’ eyes.

“It was an outstanding game, it’s just too bad that we couldn’t score the goals to move us on to the next round,” Kendrick said. “I thought we truly did have a shot to make it to state this year. It was a wonderful season, the girls can be very proud of their accomplishments.”

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