On Saturday afternoon of January 6th, our Girls’ Hockey team faced off against Wayzata at the Eagan Civic Arena. It was easy to recognize the excited energy rolling off the crowd of people in attendance. The support for both Eagan and Wayzata was strong, especially as the athletes skated onto the ice. Given the determined stares and proud cheers, there was a clear expectation that this game would be a highly competitive one.

     Starting off at the first period, the Wildcats were under strong attack by the Wayzata Trojans. Though the puck never stayed in the same area of the rink for long, the Trojans remained aggressive in their offense. Even so, the Wildcats kept up. With six minutes and fifty-nine seconds left in the first period, the Wildcat’s made a goal lead by Jenna Ruiz and assisted by Taylor Anderson and Kayla Vrieze.  The girl’s showed just how strongly they were able to work as a team with beautiful passes all the way down towards the Trojan’s defensive side. By the end of the first period, the score was at 1-0 in favor of the Wildcats.

     The Wildcats came back strong after the first period, confident about their current lead on the rink. As early as five minutes and fifty-eight seconds into the period, Brooke Peplinski made a goal with no assists. A penalty was later issued against the Wildcats, but they were at full strength again by the time 5 minutes remained in the period. Once again, Eagan kept a strong defense. But Wayzata Trojan, Megan Marshall successfully scored a goal with just over a minute left in the period.

       By the third period, everyone was brimming with excitement to see the outcome of the game. For five minutes, no shots were made on the goals as both our Wildcats and the Trojans battled fiercely for the puck. But, with 5:34 left of the period, Wayzata made a goal, tying up the game for the time being. Our girls faced the Trojans aggressively, however another goal was made barely even a minute later, giving Wayzata a one point lead.

       As the final  minutes ticked down, the Wildcats called a brief time out. While afterwards they played strong, no other goals were made, giving the Wayzata Trojans a win for this game.