Girls Hockey: Cards, Austin to meet for Willmar Invite title

Just wide — ABOVE: Willmar junior forward Miranda Roelofs, left, puts a shot just wide of the net guarded by Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato junior goalie Danielle Elam during the first period of the Willmar Invite Friday. Roelofs later scored in the third period. Tribune photo by Rand Middleton.

By Tribune Sports

November 23, 2012 at 11:03 PM

WILLMAR -- Two goals in a span of just over four minutes midway through the third period rallied Willmar past Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato 2-1 in the first round of the Willmar Invite Friday at Cardinal Arena.

Shots from Miranda Roelofs and Shelby Schneider found the back of the net for Willmar (2-1) to lift the Cardinals into today's championship game against Austin (1-2) at 4 p.m. Austin blanked Morris/Benson Area squad 11-0 in the first game Friday.

LDC (0-4) struck first when Kennedy Sommerfeld fired a powerplay shot past Willmar netminder Madison Sandberg with just two seconds left in the first period after receiving passes from Heidi Witt and Teegan Wyffels. But Sandberg kept LDC off the scoreboard for the remainder of the game to give the Cardinals a chance.

LDC goalie Danielle Elam also gave her team a chance by keeping the Cardinals scoreless for the first two periods. Willmar was coming off a 5-0 loss to the St. Cloud Icebreakers last Friday.

"We kept battling and got some good chances," said Willmar coach JaColby Anderson. "We just got a couple of shots that trickled in. The girls competed hard the entire game."

Roelofs tied the game 6:34 into the third period with Brooke Mayer getting the assist. Schneider then put Willmar ahead 2-1 when her shot off feeds from Kierra Miller and Annie Johnston got past Elam at the 10:52 mark.

Elam finished with 32 saves while Sandberg collected 18. Willmar outshot the Dragons 26-10 during the first two periods.

"LDC had some nice shots on goal, but Madi had some nice saves to keep us ahead," added Anderson.

LDC will meet MBA (0-3) today at 2 p.m. in the third-place game.

Willmar 2, Litchfield/DC 1

LDC (0-4) 1 0 0 -- 1

Willmar (2-1) 0 0 2 -- 2

FIRST PERIOD - LDC: Kennedy Sommerfeld (Heidi Witt, Teegan Wyffels) time not available

SECOND PERIOD - no scoring

THIRD PERIOD - Wil: Miranda Roelofs (Brooke Mayer) 6:34 ... Wil: Shelby Schneider (Kierra Miller, Annie Johnston) 10:52

GOALIE SAVES - Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato: Danielle Elam 10-16-6-32 ... Willmar: Madison Sandberg 4-5-9-18