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The Luverne girls’ hockey team wasted no time getting the 2022-23 season rolling when they ripped off three wins in a row in their first week of play.
Coming off last season’s section championship and state tournament appearance, Luverne took down New Ulm on the road Tuesday, Nov. 15, blanked Windom 8-0 in the home opener Thursday, Nov. 17, and beat Minnesota River on the road Saturday, Nov. 19.
The Cardinals, now 3-0 on the season, will play their next game Tuesday night, Nov. 22 in Fairmont against the Cardinals.
Luverne 4, New Ulm 1
The Luverne Cardinals girls’ hockey team opened the season on the road Tuesday, Nov. 15, against conference rival New Ulm.
The hometown Eagles and Cardinals battled back and forth and headed into the first intermission knotted at 0-0. Shots on goal were in favor of the Cardinals 12-8.
The Cardinals got on the board just 8 seconds into Period 2 when Minnesota State Division 1 commit senior Kamryn Van Batavia got one past New Ulm goalie Ava Brennan to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead with Ella Apel assisting on Van Batavia’s goal.
A total of 22 shots on goal were fired on Brennan and Luverne goalie Mallory Von Tersch, but Luverne carried the 1-0 lead into Intermission 2.
In the final period Luverne increased its lead to two when senior Mallory Nelson found the back of the net with the assist going to Payton Behr early in the period.
Taking advantage of a Cardinal penalty New Ulm finally scored on Von Tersch and cut the Cardinals’ lead to one just two minutes into Period 3.
New Ulm went back on the power play midway through the period, and Kamryn Van Batavia took a Rylee Kurtz pass and gave the Cardinals a 3-1 lead on the shorthanded goal.
Luverne’s final goal of the game came from the sister connection of seventh-grader Ellie Van Batavia, who recorded her first varsity goal on a pass from big sister Kamryn to give the Cardinals a 4-1 lead and a Cardinal victory to open the season.
Von Tersch finished with a rock solid 25 saves for the Cardinals. Luverne outshot New Ulm 37-25 in the game.
Luverne 8, Windom 0
The Cardinals welcomed the Windom Eagles to the Blue Mound Ice Arena in Luverne Thursday, Nov. 17, for their home opener of the season.
Luverne wasted no time netting four goals in the opening period.
Kamryn Van Batavia scored a couple of unassisted goals, and Izzy Steensma scored her first two varsity goals in Period 1 to give the Cardinals a commanding lead after Period 1. Kassidy Saarloos assisted on one of Steensma’s goals.
Shots on goal for Period 1 were in Luverne’s favor 19-4.
Van Batavia would get her hat trick to give the Cardinals a 5-0 lead in Period 2.
Rylee Kurtz netted her first career varsity goal on an assist from Payton Behr to take a 6-0 lead into the period break. Luverne held a 15-6 advantage on shots on goal in Period 2.
Sophomore Payton Behr buried a couple of third-period goals to make it 6-0, and the Cardinals rolled to 2-0 on the season.
Steensma and Greta McClure each had an assist in the last period. Senior goaltender Mallory Von Tersch recorded the shutout, making 11 saves in the victory. Shots on goal for the game ended in the Cardinals’ favor 44-11.
Luverne 5,
Minnesota River 1
The Cardinals girls’ hockey team went on a weekend road trip to Le Sueur to take on the Minnesota River Bulldogs Saturday.
Neither team could net a goal in Period 1 so the two took a 0-0 score into the intermission. Shots on goal for Period 1 were 11-8 in favor of Luverne.
Luverne’s Greta McClure got the Cardinals on the board just 1:12 into the second period, with assists going to Payton Behr and Izzy Steensma.
Three minutes later the Bulldogs responded by beating Luverne goalie Mallory Von Tersch to tie it at 1-1. Kamryn Van Batavia scored an unassisted goal at the 9:07 mark to give the Cardinals a 2-1 lead.
Just over a minute later Payton Behr made it 3-1, with the assist going to Steensma. Luverne held a slim lead in shots on goal at 12-7 at the end of the second period.
Kamryn Van Batavia scored her second and third goals of the game in the final period, and Von Tersch blanked the bulldogs to give the Cardinals a 5-1 road victory.
Ellie Van Batavia and Payton Behr each picked up an assist on Kamryn’s goals. Von Tersch finished with 19 saves and Luverne ended with a 37-20 advantage in shots on goal.