A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
Cloquet-Esko-Carlton's Josie Lindstrom carries the puck ahead of Northern Tier's Taylor Kozak during Saturday's game, the last of four played on the outdoor rink at Veterans Park, set up for Hockey Day Cloquet. The Lumberjacks capped the night with a 2-0 win.
Cloquet-Esko-Carlton goaltender Izzy Strang makes a save during Saturday's game. The ninth-grader got a 2-0 shutout win.
Kerry Rodd served as the public address announcer Saturday during Hockey Day Cloquet. He also writes sports stories for the Pine Knot.
The Cloquet-Esko-Carlton girls hockey team was hungry for a win as they took the ice for Hockey Day Cloquet Saturday. The Lumberjacks had not had a win since Dec. 5 against Hibbing/Chisholm. Saturday night the young CEC squad snapped a 10-game losing streak with an impressive 2-0 win over the Northern Tier Stars, a Class AA cooperative of St. Francis, North Branch and Cambridge-Isanti.
"That was a huge win for us," said CEC coach Kennedy Weets. "The girls were smiling all day long in anticipation of the game and I think the outdoor game shook up the dice for us big."
The game was scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. but was significantly delayed by breaks for shoveling snow on the outdoor sheet of ice all day long, at least once or twice during each period of the three games prior to the girls varsity game.
The 'Jacks showed plenty of jump early. The CEC senior defensive duo of Reese Kuklinski and Emma Parks teamed up for the first goal of the game at the 7:10 mark of the first period. It was the second goal of the season for Kuklinski.
"We've been pushing all season long to get pucks on net, and that shot was from quite a ways out, but it just shows what can happen," Weets said. "Being a senior and getting that goal during Hockey Day was just frosting on the cupcake for Reese."
Brooke Koski notched her third goal of the season, an unassisted goal at 9:08 of the second period, making it 2-0.
"We kept talking about the importance of getting an insurance goal, and we finally got one," Weets said.
The Lumberjacks then rode the goaltending of freshman goalie Izzy Strang the rest of the way, along with their unrelenting defensive pressure to get the win.
"Izzy has been strong all season long for us," Weets said. "We have high expectations for her and she embraces that mentality and is always ready to go for us."
Unlike with the boys, the girls game was played under the lights. With the snow and the lights came other unforeseen problems, such as just tracking the puck.
"It was a totally different environment, but the girls loved it," Weets said. "There were times where they said they lost sight of the puck, and that one minute it was on their stick and then next minute it was gone; but they all adjusted, and to get the win was great."
Both the boys and girls teams sported new uniforms featuring an off-white color with purple piping and trim. A special added treat to the uniforms was the logos of all three schools - Cloquet, Esko and Carlton - on the back of each jersey.
"That meant a lot to all the girls," Weets said. "I have girls from all three schools, and to recognize all three of the schools on the jersey was very much appreciated by all the kids."
