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Majettes hockey douse Firebirds 7-1 on Senior Night

Alex Eisen/MDN Minot High senior Bryanna Bergeron (21) makes a pass in the first period against Devils Lake Friday evening at Maysa Arena.

After seven straight road games, the Minot High School girls hockey team returned home to Maysa Arena Friday evening and celebrated its senior night in style with a 7-1 victory over the Devils Lake Firebirds.

“It’s so nice to be at home,” MHS coach Weylin Wahlstrom said. “Just getting back to routines, sleeping in your own bed and eating meals at home. It’s nice. Then, to come back on the return like this and have senior night, it just made for the ultimate game for us to get back into our rhythm.”

Minot senior Bryanna Bergeron netted two goals, as did junior Linsey Larson, while senior Cambree Albright scored her first goal of the season to make the night extra memorable.

“It was really special,” Albright said. “I’m glad it was tonight of all nights.”

The Majettes (10-3-0, 8-3-0 N.D. League) beat Devils Lake 9-3 in their season-opener, but didn’t match that type of offensive firepower early on against the Firebirds (1-13-0, 1-12-0 N.D. League) in their first home game since Dec. 13, 2016.

Larson scored the only goal in the opening period, despite the Majettes peppering 17 shots at the Devils Lake goaltender Molly Black.

“In the first (period) we started off a little slow,” Bergeron said. “But, then we started to communicate and move the puck. So, the second and third periods were definitely our better periods.”

Wahlstrom added: “It was funny. We had a lot of chances and even had girls in front of the net, I thought. Their goalie did a nice job of covering up rebounds and their defensemen were doing a good job of handling our scrums in front of the net. And some of our shots weren’t rebound friendly, shooting a lot at her chest and a little higher.”

Three and a half minutes into the second period, Bergeron did a half circle around the boards before skating to the middle of the ice to snipe her 11th goal of the season with traffic in front of the net.

Devils Lake cut the Majettes’ lead back down to one goal, 2-1, after Kaylie Klemetsrud deked around a Minot defender at center ice and then slipped the puck past senior goaltender Jadin Flexhaug.

Just 53 second later, Larson answered for the Majettes on a shot that hit Black square on the shoulder and hopped over her to reach the back of the net. Minot sophomore Olivia Weisberg used a wrist shot to get on the scoresheet two minutes later in the period.

The senior combination of Bergeron and Mackinzy Maciver teamed up to get the Majettes’ fourth goal of the period and fifth goal of the game.

Maciver started the play by chipping the puck against the boards and skating on to it to create a 2-on-1 opportunity with Bergeron. Maciver skated the puck in and shot. The initial save was made, but Bergeron poached the rebound for her second goal of the game.

“I was crashing the net and Mackinzy (Maciver) shot low for me,” Bergeron said. “It went right off the pad and I was able to hit her home.”

The small Devils Lake squad, with just five skaters available on the bench, did their best to stay rested throughout the game, but the Majettes keep pushing and were able to take advantage of a few slow line changes at times.

“A couple years ago we had 12 players, counting our goalie,” Wahlstrom said. “So, yeah, fatigue does play a role. We try to capitalize on teams with short benches. We have been there before and it’s an unfortunate thing with girls hockey. Sometimes as a program you have the numbers and sometimes you don’t.

“You feel bad for them. But, at the same time, on the other side of the bench you have to make sure that you are taking quick shifts and moving the puck down the ice.”

Freshman Dessa Flom, who saw Bergeron tie her for the most goals on the team with 12, took back her leading scorer title by knocking in a puck that was sitting in the crease and begging to be buried with five and a half minutes gone in the third period.

Albright’s first goal of the season concluded the scoring, 7-1. Sophomore Lily Bonebrake picked out the Majettes’ senior caption who was stationed alone in front of the net. All Albright had to do was redirect the puck into a wide-open net.

Minot outshot Devils Lake, 56-18, as Flexhaug made 17 saves to move to 4-0-0 overall on the season.

The Majettes return to the ice this afternoon at 2 p.m. against Grand Forks Central at Maysa Arena.

“Grand Forks is a good team,” Wahlstrom said. “We know they are fast. We know they are inexperienced. But, looking at the scores, they are getting better and better throughout the season, which we expected with the young team they have. I’m not going to be surprised tomorrow if it’s a faster game.”

Alex Eisen covers Minot High School, Minot State athletics and high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @AEisen13.

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