Trojans 4th at state floor hockey tourney
The New Prague/Tri-City United/Le Sueur-Henderson floor hockey team ended a successful season with fourth place trophy at the State CI Adapted Floor Hockey Tournament Friday and Saturday, March 15 and 16 at Bloomington Jefferson High School.
The Trojans opened with an impressive 19-9 win over Maple Grove Friday. On Saturday they faced Burnsville/Farmington/Lake ville and lost a heart-breaker, 14-13. They lost the thirdplace game to Dakota United by a 12-6 score.
Trojans 19, Crimson 9 New Prague and Maple Grove were tied at 4-4 10 minutes into the game when New Prague scored four goals to break open a close game.
The Trojans led 8-4 after one period and 13-8 after two. the Trojans dominated the third period, outscoring the Crimson 6-1 in the final period to put the game way. Alex Palma tied a tournament record by scoring 11 goals for the Trojans. He also had five assists. Matthew Schoenbauer had seven goals and five assists, Steph Hayden had a goal and an assist, Cassie Malecha had two assists and Charlie Zeilinger had an assist.
New Prague outshot Maple Grove 53-37. Zeilinger had 29 saves for the Trojans.
Blazing Cats 14, Trojan 13 Burnsville/Farmington/ Lakeville scored the winning goal with 46 seconds remaining to take a 14-13 win over the Trojans in the semifinals Saturday.
The game was a back-and-forth affair, with the Blazing Cats leading by one period after the first period, 6-5, and 8-7 after two.
New Prague scored two goals late in the third to take a 13-12 lead with 2:56 left, but the Cats scored with 1:11 left to tie it before scoring the winning goal 25 seconds later.
Schoenbauer had seven goals and four assists, Palma had five goals, Jacob Malecha three assists, Steph Hayden a goal and an assist and BrookeLynn Skluzacek an assist.
Burnsville had 51 shots on goal compared to New Prague’s 36. Zeilinger had 38 saves.
“We were so proud of all our our players,” coach Shellie Kriha said. “We fought hard to the end and represented New Prague well. It was a tough loss, but we did not hang our heads because we played our hearts out and played as a true "team".
Hawks 12, Trojans 6 Dakota United led most of the way and broke open a close game with four goals in the final period to take a 12-6 win over New Prague.
Schoenbauer had four goals, Palma had two goals and Skluzacek and Jacob Malecha each had assists. Dakota United outshot new Prague 53-31. Zeilinger had 41 saves.
“We have had a great season and had a very special and wonderful group of players to work with,” Kriha said. “Our leadership from our captains was outstanding and the growth of our younger players was impressive. We wish the best of luck to our senior captain Cassie Malecha and our senior manager Tanner Bisek."
