Hockey girls sweep Rochester Century

During winter break, the Lady Jays hockey team had back-to-back games against Rochester Century’s Panthers Wednesday, Dec. 28 and the following Friday. Waseca took victories in both games and ended 2022 on a winning note.

The first of the two games took on in Century’s home rink. Although the team had slight struggles, they sported a 6-7 record, more wins than Waseca had. But it didn’t matter to eighth-grade forward Maizee Storey. She had the team’s only two goals, one in the first period and the other in the second. Century could only get one of 28 shots past eighth-grade goalie Ilamay Draheim late in the third.

Waseca took a lot more chances, especially in the second period with 20 shots on net, which ultimately produced the win. Draheim had a .952 save percentage.

The second game went even better for Waseca. Ten minutes in, Katelyn Schueller fired a laser above the goaltender’s glove to give the Bluejays a 1-0 lead. Storey found the net again, shooting a shorthanded goal off of a breakaway for a 2-0 lead at the first intermission.

Despite having two separate two-man advantages, the Panthers couldn’t cash in. Draheim nearly denied them a goal at all until they had another power play opportunity where they were successful. Before they could think about coming back, Izabela Slechta iced the game with an empty-netter with 90 seconds left in the game. The game ended with a 3-1 win for Waseca.

The Bluejays improved to 6-4 (3-3 in conference). They started a six-game homestand starting with New Prague Jan. 3 before hosting New Ulm Thursday and Worthington Friday.