The Minnesota Frost were back in action early Saturday afternoon, Apr. 4, when they hosted the Vancouver Goldeneyes. They looked to get back in the win column following a rough overtime loss on the road to the New York Sirens earlier in the week after having a three-goal lead. Their roster remained the same, and Nicole Hensley was back in the net after Maddie Rooney played against the Sirens.
The game started out with the Goldeneyes getting the first goal, but the Frost bounced back with two of their own to tie it and take the lead. However, the Goldeneyes responded with two to end the period and take the 3-2 lead. They kept things rolling with a goal early in the second, but this time the Frost answered and tied it 4-4 going into the third period.
The Frost scored early in the third to take the lead, and they held on to it until the end to get the win 6-5 and clinched a spot in the postseason as well. In this article, we’ll look at a few takeaways, starting with the Frost’s scorers stepping up.
Frost’s Zumwinkle & Heise Step Up
After a slower start to the season, Grace Zumwinkle has found her game, and that includes her scoring stride. She was pretty quiet to begin the season, but since the Frost returned from the Olympic break, she’s had a lot more confidence in her game, and it’s shown on the scoresheet. Against the Goldeneyes, she got her team’s first goal and gave them the momentum to keep going.
Katy Knoll went on to knock in a Lee Stecklein shot to give them a 2-1 lead, and then, when they fell behind, it was Mae Batherson who got them back within one. However, whenever you see Zumwinkle, Taylor Heise usually is right alongside her, and that goes for scoring as well. She tallied the Frost’s fourth goal to tie the game up before heading into the final period, where Kelly Pannek scored back-to-back power-play goals to seal the win.
“Uh, no, I had no idea whose it was, and she (Knoll) was a little apologetic for tapping it in, but I’d rather she did that every day. We just want that puck to go in the net; we don’t really care who finishes it off. So happy she was able to make sure that that crossed the line the whole way,” said Lee Stecklein to the media after the game about the goal that Knoll knocked in.
Frost’s Power Play Comes Up Big
It was a back-and-forth game all afternoon, but when the Frost needed it the most, their power play found a way to step up, thanks to the play of Heise and Kelly Pannek. Heise had a snipe of a shot on the power play that beat the goaltender to make it 4-4, while Pannek waited out in front of the net and was rewarded as she tipped the puck in past the goaltender to give them the 5-4 lead.
Pannek added a second power play goal later in the third period to give the Frost a 6-4 lead. She waited in the same spot as her previous goal and was rewarded again as she was left alone to knock the puck in.
“Yeah, some of it honestly is bounces, like there’s some goals that I scored that I just wasn’t getting those bounces but it’s also putting myself in some of those positions and being willing to jump into space…and put a lot of faith to in my linemates to get a puck to where I think it can go and yeah so I think it’s just a little bit of both putting myself in good spots but alo getting some fortunate bounces, like I think our last goal, the last goal we scored against Vancouver in Vancouver, I was trying to pass to Lee (Stecklein) backdoor and it hits a stick and goes in, and sometimes you just need those bounces,” Kelly Pannek said to the media after the game about her goals and her stronger stats this season.
Frost Still Need to Adjust
Outside of scoring being somewhat of an issue in past games, the Frost still have to tighten up their defense. While the first goal scored against Nicole Hensley was tipped and hard to stop, along with the third goal. The second and fourth goals by the Goldeneyes were ones the Frost could’ve prevented.
They allowed the Goldeneyes to get in behind their defenders, and Hensley was unable to stop the goals. The Frost know they have things they need to tighten up, and now that they have a playoff spot clinched, they can focus more on fixing those items than having to worry about points on the board.
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“I just really feel like it was our group kind of taking ownership of, hey, we have to get better, we have to make plays, play as five-man units, and stack shifts. I mean if you started watching us get two, three, four shifts in a row of playing in their zone and getting opportunities and then when you do that than you obviously have opportunities to get power plays, you have opportunities to score so I think it was just our group again like kinda used our depth, everyone playing together, and sticking with it,” said head coach Ken Klee in his postgame press conference when asked about what changed in the game after the 4-2 Goldeneyes lead.
Frost’s Honorable mention
Although she didn’t score, she deserves to be mentioned for her efforts, and that player is Lee Stecklein. She did have a rough turnover a few games ago, where she passed the puck directly to an opponent’s stick, who went on to score against them, but outside of that, she’s played outstanding.
Especially against the Goldeneyes, she played with a lot of confidence and speed. She wasn’t afraid to try to make the offensive play, and her efforts earned the Frost a power play as she drove to the net. She nearly scored and would’ve gotten credit if Knoll hadn’t knocked it in, but of course, they want the puck to cross the line no matter who scores it. She may be a defender who doesn’t always score goals, but her efforts helped the Frost get the come-from-behind win, and hopefully that will continue when they face the Sirens once again on Saturday, Apr. 11, and into the postseason.
