MANKATO — Well, that’s one way to leave an impression.
The Mankato East girls hockey team dominated Rochester Century/John Marshall Tuesday in a 7-1 home opening win at All Seasons Arena.
“The girls were really excited,” Cougars head coach Amber Prange said. “It feels good to get that first one out of the way at home.”
The Cougars (2-0) wasted little time in stealing momentum. In fact, East outshot the Rockets 22-2 in the first period and saw goals from Ella Fugazzi, Kira Prange and Grace Campbell to lead 3-1 after the first 17 minutes.
The second period saw more of the same. Reagan Steindl flew coast-to-coast for a goal. Laina Peterson buried a goal 20 seconds into a power play. Brielle Newton added a goal and Campbell netted her second of the game as the lead grew to 7-1 entering the second intermission.
East outshot Century/John Marshall 46-5.
This year’s Cougars squad features plenty of familiar faces.
For forwards there are seniors Ava Tibodeau, Newton and Ella Hudspith, juniors Ella Quist, Steindl, Alexis Erickson, Brynn Evan and Campbell, sophomores Keagan Beckendorf, Peterson and Fugazzi. Freshman August Beltz joins the group.
On the blue line you have juniors Madelyn Scheel, Kira Prague, Jillian Borgmeier, Eme Asher and Makenzie Juliar. Junior Gretta Oachs serves as goaltender.
Head coach Amber Prange described the group as super gritty.
“They work really hard,” Amber said. “They have really high expectations for themselves. They usually want another rep at practice, they want to keep going. They want to score goals, which is good. They have a nose for the net.”
As for what the Cougars can accomplish this season, well, that question remains unanswered. But there’s one thing for certain — they won’t quit.
“If you watch them long enough you’ll notice they don’t want to quit on the shift, they want to stay out and want another time attacking or getting after it in the corners,” Amber said. “There’s so much potential here as a group. We have more than two lines, we have a lot of options. I feel like they are figuring out their role and what that looks like for our team.”
Erickson and Borgmeier each had two assists. Peterson, Newton, Scheel, Tibodeau and Fugazzi each had a helper.
The Cougars face Minnesota River at 7:15 p.m. Thursday at the Le Sueur Community Center Ice Rink.