She's doing an outstanding job in the net and to date her saves are at 94 percent.
Needless to say her coach, Brad McCool, is pretty proud to have a player of that caliber on his team.
McCool is proud of his whole team...to date they've won all their games. "We've won them all,” said McCool, noting Long Prairie and St. Cloud have been the two toughest games they've played this year. Morris was a pretty tough team, too, he said, and in that game Vogt skated while team member Crystal Huhn was the goalie. "Crystal had herself a shut out...3-0,” McCool recalled.
In the Long Prairie game PNLS won in overtime, the score two to one. Amanda McCool scored unassisted, with Paula Vogt scoring the winning goal in overtime.
In the St. Cloud game the Trail Blazers had a shut out, the score 3-0.
The week prior they played Buffalo, winning on a score of 8-1, Buffalo scoring first. The girls also played Crow River, beating them by three points...5-2.
McCool said there are two things that have really helped the team this year...they had an easy schedule for the first half of the season, plus the entire team has improved in all their hockey skills...skating, puck handling, shooting. McCool said one look at the score sheet tells a person the girls are skating together. "Over half of our goals are assisted goals. I'm sure that would be a first for the history of the team.”
Nine of the girls have been skating together for three years, McCool said, and six of that nine have skated together for four years, ever since the team got its start. And five out of those nine girls will graduate this year.
In looking at statistics, Paula Vogt is the high scorer, followed by Courtney Karsch. In assists, Paula Vogt and Tess Plumley, each have five and Kris Pyka, Amanda McCool, and Courtney Karsch each have three.
Four girls have made shorthanded goals, which is when the team has someone in the penalty box...Amanda McCool, who scored against Long Prairie; Alana Ahlquist, Crow River; Courtney Karsch, Crow River; and Paula Vogt, Crow River.
One of the team members, Beth Murch has been out with mono since playing at Shakopee. She has had to miss five games so far. "We're looking forward to her skating with us when she gets healthy.”
There are three regular season home games left and these will be followed by a tournament Feb. 8 and 9 in Paynesville. Teams from Grand Forks, N.D. and Bemidji will be skating this tournament.
And then, the girls are off "on the march” to Ely on Feb. 28 for a three-day regional tournament where the overall winner will be determined.