Gallery • 5 Photos

Photo published with permission of Katie Braman

Senior Sena Hanson walks through the neutral zone to get the offensive attack started. Hanson got one assist on the net on the second goal of the game.

Every road has bumps, so why would St. Paul United’s road to state be any different? (It wouldn’t be different-that’s the answer.) United hit their first bump in the road with their loss to the one loss Blake School Bears.

“We’re not about going undefeated, that’s just not we’re about,” senior goalie Catherine Johnson said. Obviously winning is a goal for United, but as former Phoenix Sun and LA Laker Steve Nash said, “We were excited to win, staying undefeated is just the icing.”

The focus was not on the streak this whole time for a team whose last loss came almost a year ago. The focus has always been on the Road to State. In St. Paul, it’s hard to find a road without bumps on them, so, one loss to the top ranked team in the state, Blake, that could help later on in the journey is nothing.

United came out of the gates with an inconsistent energy level throughout their lineup. It all changed when junior Joie Phelps just dumped a harmless puck on net from center ice and it skipped past Blake School goalie, freshman, Olivia Bizal who had given up two goals in her past eight games (a goals against average of 0.25 for those keeping score at home).

“It showed us that she was beatable,” Johnson said, “She’s a good goalie, but she is still beatable.”

“It’s great to get the first goal, no matter how it goes in. ” junior captain Clare Tipler said, “Since we’ve never beaten Blake, scoring first put the game into perspective. We knew we could win or at least be in this game. It got everyone fired up.”

There was a definite change in the atmosphere after the goal. A lot more chatter on the ice and there was a lot more energy from every player.

After two quick penalties from senior Sena Hanson and junior Lauren Boettcher, United found themselves defending a 5 on 3 and a one goal lead. Blake capitalized on the two player advantage and netted one of their three powerplay goals. United, who had a penalty kill that came in killing penalties at a 90% rate, struggled on the PK with Blake going 3 for 5 on the powerplay.

Read more numbers important to United’s 17 game unbeaten run here

“They are a well coached team and disciplined,” Tipler said, “They used their speed and skill on the PP…and they got a lot of shots net.”

All of these shots created many second chance opportunities for Blake. They were able to capitalize on their goal of the night, when, after a shot from the slot, there was a net mouth scramble and Lucy Burton was able get the puck past Catherine Johnson. The second Blake came when Sylvie Wallin threw the puck towards Carly Bullock who just redirected the puck into the net.

United had many chances on the powerplay as well especially coming down in the final minutes of the game. United’s best chance of the night came with 1:52 left after Blake’s leading scorer Carly Bullock hit Sena Hanson from behind.

“[Bullok] hit me from behind, just a pure classless play.” Hanson said, “It wasn’t needed, it was stupid and dangerous. A real classy hockey player would never do that and I am just disappointed that a player with that much talent would do that.”

This got Bullock a five minute major, an ejection, and it gave United a chance down two goals with under two minutes to go and a three skater advantage (with the goalie pulled). Blake was able to kill off the penalties (with the help of a few quick whistles) and won the game 3-1.

“This was a learning loss,” Tipler said, “Coming in we knew it would be tough, we knew we’d never won, but being so close gave us hope.”

Johnson added that there’s x’s and o’s piece to the loss as well, “Now, we’ve seen their systems and we can learn from that and figure out how to stop them.”

United being in the game right until the final minute shows they can compete with Blake, a team that had outscored United 40-7 in the previous six matchups has never lost to United and the three time defending state champions.

“This is a team [United] that can win state,” Tipler said, “That may seem like a bold statement, but we have the skill, depth, work ethic, goaltending, and love of the game that can get us there.”

As for Blake, Sena Hanson said, “They’re nothin’ special.”

United plays next against Rochester John Marshall at Drake Arena at 5:00 on Saturday.