Steve Huglen was a bit concerned about any letdowns as his Roseau girls hockey team was coming off a 3-1 win Thursday night against rival Warroad, the No. 1-ranked team in Minnesota Class A.
"I think that for any team, after playing a rivalry game, there's always a question of how you bounce back,'' Huglen said. "You have to refocus quickly. And East Grand Forks is always a tough game; they're always tight games when we play. No way we overlook them.''
Huglen had no reason to worry. With the Rams playing their usual strong defense and getting an unexpected offensive boost from Ella Helgeson, Roseau took a 5-2 road win against East Grand Forks Senior High on Saturday afternoon.
"That was a huge win against Warroad with the rivalry,'' Roseau junior goalie Kiana Flaig said. "But it's not hard to play the next game. It's fun to play.''
Flaig had 19 saves as the 13-4 Rams held an opponent to fewer than three goals for the 16th time this season. The junior has allowed only 16 goals in 17 games.
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"Kiana is great in the nets, and we have a lot of veterans who know our system and have skills,'' Huglen said of the Rams' defense. "And we do a good job of keeping the puck out of our zone and putting pressure on other teams.''
If Flaig has been consistent anchoring the defense, Helgeson has been a hard-luck player on the other end. The junior entered the game with only one goal and five assists on the season; she had two goals and an assist in the win. "We know Kenzie Whalen (Senior High's goalie) is really good,'' Helgeson said. "We wanted to put a lot of shots at her.''
Helgeson's scoring wasn't a surprise. "It's more surprising that she only had one goal coming in,'' Huglen said. "She's a hard-working, scrappy player. She's had some bad luck.''
Jenna Byfuglien, Kayla Santl and Reese Strand also had Roseau goals, while Ellice Murphy had three assists. Byfuglien's goal at 6:55 into the second on a rebound shot broke a 1-1 tie and started a run of four unanswered Rams goals.
Senior High received power-play goals from Cynthia Loven and Kylie Stauss-only the second and third power-play scores Roseau has allowed this season. The Rams held a 40-21 advantage in shots on goal.
"When a team controls a puck like Roseau did and you're in your own zone most of the game, it's tough to test their defense,'' Senior High coach Jim Enright said. "They're fast, and speed sometimes gets to us. We've struggled turning the corner against fast teams.''
Senior High dropped to 10-4-1.
