Sibley, RiverHawks Start Season with Win in Sartell

Dani Sibley scored twice, Maddi Sjelin dished out a pair of assists and Annie Boeckers also had two points as the North Wright County RiverHawks opened the 2011-2012 season with a 5-2 road victory at Sartell.

The Hawks pounded the Sabres with 45 shots. Erin Deeters made 40 saves for the Stormin Sabres, but it wasn’t enough.

In net for the Hawks, senior Amanda Koep stopped 25 shots for the hometown club, earning her first win of the season.

“It’s exciting to get out there and get going. We’re all ready. I think we’ve been ready since we left the ice [at the 2011 State AA Tournament] in March,” Keop said.

Head coach Tim Hanson said it was important for his club, which lost a handful of senior leaders from last year’s team, to get out to a good start against a Section 8AA opponent on the road.

“You don’t want to look back in November and see a chance you missed. So we have to start right away. The girls have been ready. They were in here in the summer working out, they’ve hit the weight room and they were ready to go the day after Halloween when we got started. That’s the exciting thing,” Hanson said.

Friday night, the Hawks and Sabres traded goals early, but then broke the 1-1 tie with three straight scores.

After Kaleigh Hamann got the first goal of the season for NWC, the Sabres scored moments later. However, goals by Rachel Heiber, Maddi Sjelin and Dani Sibley in the late first and through the second period blew open the game, as the Hawks kept the Sabres off the board during a 3-0 run.

Sartell would cut it to 4-2 to open the third, but Sibley would put the game away at the 13:37 mark of the third period with her second goal of the night.  

The RiverHawks will play their first home game Thursday night when they host Centennial at the . Puck drops at 7 p.m.

It’s the first in a range of “big name” opponents for the Hawks this season.

“We strengthened our non-conference schedule for sure,” Hanson said. “I think last year getting to the X and playing a couple of games, really put us on the map for some people. And then to have the U14 girls win their tournament, that opened some eyes to the fact there’s some really good girls’ hockey out this way. So it’s going to be exciting. The big part will be how we handle all that competition.”

SCORING

1st Period -- Scoring: NWRCTY - Hamann (Sjelin) 4:19. SARTEL - Holman (Power Play) (Wurdelman) 9:21. NWRCTY - Heiber (Power Play) (Boeckers) 13:49. Penalties: Gudmonson, NWRCTY (Roughing, Minor, 2 min) 8:05. Wurdelman, SARTEL (Cross-Checking, Minor, 2 min) 12:46. Hinkemeyer, NWRCTY (Tripping, Minor, 2 min) 15:11. Achterkirch, NWRCTY (Interference, Minor, 2 min) 15:44.

2nd Period -- Scoring: NWRCTY - Sibley (Gudmonson, Boeckers) 10:34. NWRCTY - Sjelin (Power Play) (Hinkemeyer, Achterkirch) 13:46. Penalties: Moran, SARTEL (Roughing, Minor, 2 min) 0:22. Boeckers, NWRCTY (Cross-Checking, Minor, 2 min) 6:31. Moran, SARTEL (Hooking, Minor, 2 min) 13:39.

3rd Period -- Scoring: SARTEL - Moran (Short Handed) (Rasmussen) 3:13. NWRCTY - Sibley (Voight) 13:37. Penalties: Lukasavitz, SARTEL (Cross-Checking, Minor, 2 min) 2:54. Gudmonson, NWRCTY (Tripping, Minor, 2 min) 5:21. Anderson, SARTEL (Tripping, Minor, 2 min) 13:37. Holman, SARTEL (Slashing, Minor, 2 min) 14:37. Pitts, NWRCTY (Slashing, Minor, 2 min) 16:37.