The defense did it again.
Defending champion West Fargo secured its second consecutive shutout with a 3-0 win against Grand Forks in the North Dakota state girls hockey tournament semifinals Friday at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
West Fargo will play Fargo North at 11 a.m. today in the championship game.
"(The defense) played really well," said West Fargo sophomore goaltender Andrea Klug, who needed just 10 saves to secure the shutout. "But that's good for me, I guess. I would rather be bored at the state tournament than have 50 shots a game."
For the second straight tournament game, the Packers' defense dominated play.
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West Fargo (22-3-0) closed down all the passing lanes and played keep-away from Grand Forks by cycling the puck around the rink in the offensive zone.
The KnightRiders' chances were limited even under ideal conditions. The Packers held Grand Forks to just one shot on net during a pair of first-period power-play opportunities.
"They did a good job of clogging the lane and picking off passes," Grand Forks coach Darin Schumacher said. "We didn't get the puck down deep. That is the whole key to our game. ... We came out a little bit wide-eyed in the first period, and it seemed like we were digging ourselves out of a hole we built right away."
West Fargo's offense did more than enough to help the team to a second-consecutive title game.
Junior Britney Yliniemi put West Fargo ahead 1-0 at 3:49 of the first period. The tip past Grand Forks goaltender Ali Sondreal awakened the still groggy early morning crowd at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
Allison Springer gave the Packers a 2-0 lead 49 seconds into the second period. Leading scorer Kacie Johnson made it 3-0 late in the third.
The Packers outshot Grand Forks 26-10. The KnightRiders dropped to 15-8-2 with the loss.
"We're clicking," Klug said. "We're finally scoring the goals that we need to score."
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West Fargo's defense has given Klug a significant break before the final. Klug has had to stop just 19 shots in two tournament games. She needed just nine saves in a 4-0 first-round win against Williston.
Klug entered the game allowing 1.28 goals per game, tops among full-time starters in the state. Klug has stopped 92.8 of all shots that have come her way.
But there haven't been many opportunities so far at state. And that's just fine with Packers coach Pat Johnson -- to a point.
"She's got to make sure she stays awake," he said. "Because when these teams do have shots, they have some (big) shots. She's focused in right now and that's what you want from your goalie."
