WILLMAR -- The Willmar girls hockey team played one kind of game in the first two periods against the St. Cloud Icebreakers on Tuesday night.
The Cardinals played a different game in the third and it cost them a victory.
The Icebreakers' Maggie Kippley scored two third-period goals to help St. Cloud tie the Cardinals 2-2 at the Willmar Civic Center.
The Cardinals fell to 2-0-1 and don't have the good feeling of a victory leading them into their Willmar Invitational tournament Friday and Saturday in Willmar.
"We let them off the hook," said Cardinals head coach Jason Mayer. "It was like two different games. First two periods we dominated and then in the third gave up a quick goal and we started chasing."
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Willmar's Amelia Amon scored the game's first goal late in the first period on assists from Kendra Maxfield and Alex Sobieck.
Sobieck made it 2-0 later in the second period with assists from Shelby Schneider and Amon.
But something changed during the break between the second and third period, and Mayer said the team is determined to fix it.
"We talked about it between periods, how we had to stay after it," Mayer said. "It's like we came out flat-footed. I don't know what happened but we're going to watch some tape and figure it out."
In its invitational, Willmar plays the MBA Storm at 8 p.m. Friday. Litchfield and Austin kick off the tournament at 4 p.m. Friday.
On Saturday, Friday's losing teams play at 2 p.m. and the winning teams square off at 4 p.m.
Willmar 2, St. Cloud Icebreakers 2
SC Icebreaker (1-0-1) 0 0 2 -- 2
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Willmar (2-0-1) 1 1 0 -- 2
FIRST PERIOD - Wil: Amelia Amon (Kendra Maxfield, Alex Sobieck) 13:36
SECOND PERIOD - Wil: Sobieck (Shelby Schneider, Amon) 12:24
THIRD PERIOD - SC: Maggie Kippley (Cecilia Strong) 2:03 ... SC: Kippley (Strong) 9:40
GOALIE SAVES - St. Cloud Icebreakers: Lucy Gaetz 38 ... Willmar: Baylie Young 29
