Girls hockey opens at Century Saturday

The New Prague Trojan girls hockey team will open its season Saturday, Nov. 9, when they face Rochester Century at the Rochester Rec Center. Game time is 1 p.m.

The Trojans will play their first home game Tuesday, Nov. 12, against Orono. New Prague is coming off a 20-7-1 season, where they finished second to Red Wing in both the Missota Conference and Section 1A. New Prague lost nine players to graduation, including two of their top three scorers, their top defender and starting goaltender. But the Trojans return several potent producers, including eighthgrader Catie Skaja, who was second on the team in scoring last year with 19 goals and 35 assists for 54 points, and Dani Kocina, the lone senior on the team, who notched 22 goals and 19 assists for 41 points.

Also back are Jordan Anderson, Marissa Kivi, Sami Witt, Dani Wilmes, and Cassie and Haley Dietz, along with a number of younger players who have moved up to the varsity roster.

Goaltender Sydney Culshaw, a ninth grader, has some varsity experience, and Alex Morris, a sophomore, is also on the varsity roster.

Also new to the varsity is the Trojans’ head coach, Andrea Peterson. Peterson played collegiately at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, where she was the National Division III player of the year in 2007. She served as an assistant coach at Gustavus and joined the staff at New Prague last year. She teaches at Eagle View Elementary in Elko New Market.