Glen Strandberg
Sports Editor

Opening the 2007-08 girls hockey season last Saturday, Forest Lake ventured off to a mouthful-of-a-program, with a game at Proctor/Hermantown/Marshall.

Last November, these same two teams faced each other in the season opener, with the Rangers picking up a 7-3 victory. The Mirage delivered a huge counterpunch though, when they came down to Forest Lake for the playoffs in February, and sent the Rangers to the exits with a disheartening 3-1 loss.

On Nov. 10 it was Round 3 — with new head coach Heidi Link taking over the Forest Lake squad — and this 4-3 Ranger win turned out to be a highly competitive battle between Section 7AA opponents.

Proctor kept the pressure on Forest Lake by scoring twice in the opening period, as Julia Gilbert notched the first goal almost 10 minutes in, and Jami Weiss followed up nearly four minutes later for the two-goal advantage.

When the Mirage went up by three goals with just a minute gone in the second period, Forest Lake’s situation was not an enviable one.

Enter the Rangers’ Audrey Hanmer. The freshman defender put down the first layer of the team’s four-goal comeback, when she scored on an unassisted effort at the 2:09 mark of the period.

After sophomore Charise Kendrick used a Miranda Nelson assist to close the deficit to 3-2 at the end of the second period, Forest Lake was officially back in the game.

Coming out of the final intermission, the Rangers’ Briana Gray and Torri Shelafoe assisted on an Ashley Grell goal, tying the score at 3-3 with 15 minutes left to play in regulation.

Say hello again to Hanmer. With less than four minutes remaining in the third period, the dynamic ninth grader placed the top layer on a 4-3 victory with an unassisted, short-handed goal.

Controlling the net for Forest Lake was senior goaltender Kim Fredrick, who closed up shop on the Mirage after spotting them the three-goal lead at the start of the second period. The senior saw 24 shots on the afternoon, while Proctor’s Jen Coyle made 11 saves on 15 shots.

The Rangers were on the road again Tuesday night at Cambridge-Isanti (19-7-1 last season), and travel to Chisago Lakes (9-15-2) on Thursday, and St. Francis (8-17-1) on Saturday.

Forest Lake’s home opener is Tuesday, Nov. 20 at 7:30 p.m. against Woodbury (8-16-2).

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