Gentry Academy girls hockey knocks off Hill-Murray in section final

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The No. 2-seed Gentry Academy Stars defeated the No. 1 -seed Hill-Murray Pioneers 4-1 in the Class 2A, Section 4 final on Thursday night at Aldrich Ice Arena.

Gentry Academy scored two goals in the span of 20 seconds early in the second period to help punch its ticket to the state tournament.

Cara Sajevic led the way for the Stars with two goals.

Here are two takeaways from the game:

Gentry Academy wins the battle of styles

Coming into this game, Hill-Murray hadn't given up a goal all section tournament and boasted a 0.96 goals against average throughout the season. 

Gentry Academy averaged over seven goals per game coming into this contest and had scored 13 goals through two section games. Tonight it was Gentry Academy who won the battle of offense vs defense. 

“On paper this was a very even game and a clash of styles'' Gentry Academy head coach Billy Hengen said.  "hill-Murray doesn't really give up any goals, so we really delved into film to see how we can manufacture some goals.” 

Whatever film the Stars watched paid off in the game as Gentry Academy dominated the puck battle tonight and were able to find the back of the net against a very strong defense. 

The Stars got the scoring started late in the first period with a goal from senior forward Jenessa Gazdik, who got past multiple Pioneer defenders to tuck home the game's first goal and give Gentry Academy a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. 

In the second period, Sajevic got the Stars' second goal on a breakaway, slotting the puck in the top left corner. Just 20 seconds later, Sajevic scored again, this time getting some help from her teammates as some nifty passing lead to Sajevic netting her second of the game. 

“Offensively our MO is that we try to keep the puck and are a good passing team, so I knew that part would come,” Hengen said. 

The Stars took a comfortable 3-0 lead into the third period en route to a 4-1 victory.

Laming shuts down the Pioneers

Though Gentry Academy's identity may be scoring goals, that does not mean it has a faulty defense. Tonight, the Stars defense came to play for three full periods, especially senior goalie Zoe Laming. 

Laming stopped 28 shots on the night and her play was the difference. 

“She had a tremendous game,” Hengen said.  "She's been the backbone of this team for the entire season, not just tonight.” 

Laming allowed just one goal on the night and made sure that was the only goal that was going to get by her 

“When it was 3-0, she let up one goal, and in section hockey, you never what could happen because the momentum can change fast, and [Laming] made sure that the momentum would not shift," Hengen said.

Gentry Academy could draw one of the top seeds in the state tournament, and coach Hengen likes its chances in the tournament if it can score like they did tonight. 

“Four goals will win you any game in this high school girls hockey environment,” he said.