Westonka Girls Finish No. 2 in District 2A

With a trip to the state tournament on the line, the Westonka girl's hockey team came up just short, losing 3-2 in overtime to Hutchinson on Feb. 16.

After splitting the two conference games played against Hutchinson during the regular season, the District 2A championship game was destined to come down to the last minute.

Hutchinson took an early penalty, and it looked like the White Hawks would come out strong and take an early lead. But it did not turn out that way.

Westonka turned the puck over in their own zone to Hutchinson’s leading scorer and captain, Sara Carlson. Carlson carried the puck out alone in front of senior goaltender Samantha Scobee and scored the game’s first goal, just two minutes into the opening period.

The White Hawks found themselves in penalty trouble for most of the first period, and midway through the frame Westonka filled the penalty box and found themselves two players short for four minutes.  

Hutchinson was unsuccessful scoring with the 5-on-3 advantages, Westonka could not find the back of the net to knot the score.

Neither team could score in the second period, but Westonka stayed out of the penalty box and had a number of great scoring chances.

The third period started with a revamped forward lineup—bringing Westonka's three senior captains, Nina Chase, Emily Halvarson and Kia Johnson, back together on a forward line.  

But it was the underclassmen lineup that tied eventually the game three minutes into the period when Abby Brustad found Grace Holmen alone in front of the Hutch net. Holmen pounded the puck home to tie the game at one.  

The same combo struck again on a near identical play with five minutes left in the game, when Brustad hit Holmen in front of the net and Holmen scored her second goal of the game.   

With their first lead of the game, it looked good for the White Hawks state tournament hopes. It all came crashing down when the White Hawks took a tripping penalty and found themselves shorthanded with two minutes left in the game.  

Hutchinson scored a power play goal to send the game into overtime.

Hutchinson scored just 24 seconds into the overtime to win the game 3-2 and end Westonka's hopes for a state tournament trip.  

With an overall record of 17 wins, nine losses and a tie, the White Hawks girls season would came to an end.