Once again, the time to drop the puck is upon us. The girls?Äô and boys?Äô hockey teams are ready for another great season, and coaches look forward to successful outings again this year. Come out and support these energetic, devoted athletes and have the time of your life.
River Lakes Stars (Girls)
The girls?Äô season gets underway 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14, vs. Roseau at ROCORI High School. Coach Jack Freeman thinks that the team is looking sharp in pre-season work, despite losing some key players to graduation.
?ÄúWe graduated a lot of points and minutes from last year?Äôs team. The big question for us is who is going to fill those roles? We?Äôre excited about a lot of our young players, and we think we have some kids who have the potential to really step up big for us.?Äù Mugge and Meed are two very special players who are returning for this year?Äôs Stars. They are pegged to generate the majority of the team?Äôs offense. The Stars boast additional strengths in the net-minders as well. Tomaszewski and Wander had spectacular off-seasons, and they are both considered to be two of the top goalies in their age group. ?ÄúThey will give us a chance to win on a nightly basis,?Äù Freeman said.
Though River Lakes graduated a big senior class last year, the coaching staff remains excited about the good mix of young talent and key returning players. Top returning forwards: Alyssa Meed, junior, Sierra Flint, sophomore, Kaitlyn Anfinson, senior.
Top returning defenders: Sam Mugge, senior, Jordan King, junior, Anne Howard, senior.
Top Newcomers: Amanda Bijold, sophomore, Kya Binsfeld, freshman, Abby Bolle, sophomore, Jaiden Deming, freshman, Shelby Gately, freshman, Courtney Hanson, sophomore, Carlie Mies, sophomore, Paige Olson, sophomore, Nicole Wander, freshman.
River Lakes Stars (Boys)
With the realignment to boy?Äôs hockey and RLS moving to Section 6A, competition should remain the same as it was in section 8AA.
?ÄúI would like to see our team improve our game play, skills, chemistry, condition and on ice awareness, daily putting us in a position to be healthy and peak at the playoffs,?Äù said Coach John Pulsifer. One of the team?Äôs strengths is the leadership from senior Grant Thompson. Grant is the team?Äôs leading points?Äô player from last season, and he is a returning captain. The Stars have more depth in the lineup, with a strong, returning group of young talent moving up. Pulsifer expects senior goaltender Nicholas Skluzacek to have a great season and play in a major portion of the games.
Nikolai Jensen, a natural hockey player, commits most of his time to improving his game. Over the last two seasons he earned the role as #1 defenseman on the team. Grant Thompson, an outstanding athlete and returning captain, also excels in baseball and football. ?ÄúRLS boys?Äô high school hockey is fortunate to have a great number of youth players. The sport is strong and our player development committee is doing an outstanding job to continually improve the program. Our youth coaches are committed and work very hard every day to help improve our players and programs,?Äù said Coach Pulsifer. The boys?Äô season gets underway at
7:15 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 24, vs. Rogers at ROCORI High School.
The high school hockey season is guaranteed to be as exciting and competitive as ever. Full schedules are available on the individual school?Äôs websites or by visiting the Minnesota State High School League website at http://mshsl.org/mshsl/index.asp.