Woodbury girls hockey: Royals earn tie with rival Bears

A youthful roster, injuries and illnesses have held back the Woodbury girls hockey team in the early part of the 2012-13 season. However, the Royals got a boost last week when it earned a 1-1 tie with Suburban East Conference rival White Bear Lake on Saturday at the Vadnais Sports Center in Vadnais Heights.

“The girls are playing really well,” first-year Woodbury head coach Chris Lepper said. “The team has been suffering through injury and illness and has had to make adjustments for almost every game this season. The tie with White Bear was a great confidence boost for the girls.”

Woodbury (1-5-1; 0-3-1 SEC) and White Bear Lake (2-3-2; 0-2-2 SEC) each scored first-period goals, then held each other off the scoreboard for the remainder of the game.

Woodbury’s Molly Burke – one of only three seniors on the roster – gave the Royals a 1-0 lead 6 minutes, 47 seconds after the puck was dropped, off an assist by sophomore Cassandra Morris. However, White Bear Lake answered with a goal just 20 seconds before the first period ended.

Woodbury junior goalie Kaelan Geisser stopped 34 of the Bears’ 35 shots in the win. Woodbury had 31 shots on the White Bear Lake goal.

The win came on the heels of a 7-1 loss at 15th-ranked Stillwater (4-3-1; 3-1-0 SEC) on Tuesday, Dec. 4.

Woodbury was outshot 43-15 in defeat, with Geisser making 37 saves.

Woodbury sophomore Erin Goodell had the lone goal of the game for the Royals on assists by Burke and sophomore Kayla Falconer.

Falconer leads the team in scoring with seven points on the year.

Next, Woodbury hosts rival East Ridge (2-6; 2-2 SEC) on Friday, Dec. 14, at Bielenberg. The Raptors started slow, but have been playing better of late – beating White Bear Lake 1-0 and Park 4-3 and falling 2-1 to Stillwater in three of its last four games.

“Should be a great game as the rivalry continues,” Lepper said.

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