When Minot made a mistake, West Fargo made the Majettes pay.
Specifically, it was Packers junior forward Rachel Monkman that was the thorn in the side of Minot.
Monkman scored two power-play goals to lead West Fargo to a 4-1 win over Minot in the quarterfinals of the North Dakota state girls hockey tournament Thursday at Olympic Arena.
The No. 4-seeded Packers (17-7-0) scored three of their four goals off Minot penalties.
"We capitalized on their mistakes," West Fargo coach Pat Johnson said. "They made a mistake, took a penalty and we capitalized on them three times."
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The first misstep by the Majettes (14-8-0) came late in the first period when Brandi Sveet got sent to the box for tripping.
Minot looked to be close to killing the penalty, but Monkman fired a shot that got by Majettes goalie Sydney Swanson, giving the Packers a 1-0 lead with 2 minutes, 24 seconds left.
Kelly Krahn netted the Packers' next goal on a power play with 9:14 left in the second period.
Minot got on the board when Minot's Jenna Luedke scored an unassisted goal early in the third, cutting West Fargo's lead in half.
But once again a penalty followed for Minot, and again it was Monkman who took advantage.
Monkman scored in heavy traffic, which re-established the Packers' two-goal cushion.
"(Rachel) has done that all year," Johnson said. "It's a team effort though. (Rachel) had to have her teammates get her the puck, and she was in the right place."
Penalties and Monkman's knack for the net kept Minot from getting any pressure on West Fargo goalie Andrea Klug.
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"We knew special teams were going to be huge this weekend," Minot coach Wehlin Wahlstrom said. "We did a nice job on the (penalty) kill all year, but (West Fargo) was getting good looks at the net and putting them in the back.
"They created some traffic out front and did a nice job of moving the puck around. They played really well today."
Klug finished with 12 saves for the Packers.
Junior Hayley Walsh scored an empty-net goal in the third period to seal the win for West Fargo.
The Packers, who lost to Fargo North in the championship game last season, advance to play No. 1-seeded Fargo South in the semifinals at 1 p.m. today at Purpur Arena.
"We just have to continue to move our feet and skate hard," Johnson said. "South has a loaded team, and we're going to have to work hard. We won't be favored by any means, but we'll go out and play it and give it everything we got."
