The Stars lost 2-1, as Alexandria scored the winning goal with less than nine seconds left in the third period.
Alexandria came out strong in the first two periods, outshooting the Stars 16-14. Goalie Trisha Wendlandt had 24 saves in the game for River Lakes.
The Stars used great defense to kill two penalties and keep the game scoreless for the first two periods.
The Stars went into the locker room between the second and third period knowing they had to step it up a notch if they wanted a win. The girls talked about what they needed to do and went out on the ice pumped up.
Excited to play, the Stars came out quick and had many shots on net during the third period. The Stars outshot Alexandria and nearly doubled their shots from the first two periods combined.
Coach Tom Petroski said, "The game was fairly even. Both teams had numerous opportunities to score. I was real pleased with how the girls continued to battle until the very end."
With less than five minutes left in the game, Danielle Thompson scored a goal for Alexandria with an assist from Andrea Paulson.
The Stars earned a power play and showed great control. Jenny Habben took a shot and got it past the Alexandria goalie to tie the game 1-1.
The Stars used great defense in the third to kill two penalties, but were unable to keep the Cardinals from scoring with less than nine seconds left in the game. Rachel Hills took a shot after a face off and scored the game-winning goal.
The Stars have a busy week. They hosted Little Falls yesterday. They will travel to Willmar on Thursday. This game starts at 7:30 p.m.
The Stars will host a game against Princeton at Richmond at 7 p.m. on Saturday. On Monday, Jan. 29, the Stars play at Sartell/Sauk Rapids at 6:30 p.m.
The River Lakes Stars girls' hockey team has a record of 0-15-1 overall and 0-8-1 in the conference this season.
| Alexandria-- | 0 | 0 | 2 | - 2 |
| River Lakes-- | 0 | 0 | 1 | - 1 |
First Period: Goals (assists): no scoring.
Second Period: no scoring.
Third Period: A-Danielle Thompson (Andrea Paulson); RL-Jenny Habben (unassisted); A-Rachel Hills (unassisted).
Benson/Morris 11
River Lakes 1
The Stars were excited to play Benson/Morris on Thursday, after their narrow loss to Alexandria.
The Stars were pumped up and ready to play, but it wasn't enough to beat the skillful Benson/Morris team. River Lakes lost 11-1.
Benson came out strong in the first period by scoring five goals.
Leah Erickson and Alyssa Evenson both had hat tricks for Benson/Morris. Evenson added three assists and Erickson added two.
Emily Moschkau answered back in the first period with an unassisted goal to make the score 5-1.
Petroski said, "Our team did some things very well both offensively and defensively. Unfortunately, Benson had a couple of players that we were unable to contain."
The Stars were outshot in the first period 13-5.
Wendlandt was replaced by Crystal Songetay after she was injured. The two goalies faced 36 shots and made 25 saves for the Stars.
The Stars were put on the power play advantage in the second period but were unable to score.
Benson/Morris scored three more times in the second period and outshot the Stars 12-4.
The River Lakes Stars girls' hockey team skated hard in the third period but Benson/Morris was still able to score three times to make the final score 11-1.
| River Lakes-- | 1 | 0 | 0 | - 1 |
| Benson/Morris-- | 5 | 3 | 3 | - 11 |
First Period: Goals (assists): BM-Leah Erickson (unassisted); BM-Elyse Evenson (Erickson, Alyssa Evenson); BM-Erickson (A. Evenson, E. Evenson); BM-A. Evenson (Erickson, Anne Janssen); BM-A. Evenson (Janssen); RL-Emily Moschkau (unassisted).
Second Period: Goals: BM-Natalie Searcy (Amy Dingman, Beverly Vollen); BM-Janssen (unassisted); BM-E. Evenson (Rachel Thorstad).
Third Period: Goals: BM-Erickson (Annie Van Tassel); BM-Van Tassel (A. Evenson); BM-A. Evenson (unassisted).