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Blake 5, Mound-Westonka 2

By Star Tribune, 02/20/13, 4:15PM CST

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Bears' Alex Lovaas scores twice to hold off first-time tournament entrant

After Mound-Westonka cut his team’s lead to a lone goal in the third period, Blake coach Shawn Reid started scheming the next line shift.

The Bears’ players on the ice focused on payback.

“Nothing hurts more than when after you score, the other team pops one right back in,” junior forward Alex Lovaas said. “It’s kind of like an ‘in your face’ type of thing to the other team.”

Seven seconds after state tournament newcomer Mound-Westonka gave itself hope, No. 3 seed Blake took it away. Lovaas scored the first of her two third period goals in a 5-2 Bears’ victory Wednesday in the second Class 1A quarterfinal game at the Xcel Energy Center.

Trailing 3-1 in the third period, Mound Westonka got a goal from Liz Schepers and appeared poised to challenge the favored Bears. Coach Chris Erickson warned of a Blake counterpunch but also encouraged his girls to attack.

“We thought we could skate with them and make them make mistakes,” Erickson said. “We had a one-second mental lapse and it cost us.”

Said Lovaas: “That’s something we’re always trying to think about. After they score you don’t want them to get momentum.”

First period goals from Carly Bullock and Ali Ahn put the Bears ahead 2-0. Karlie Lund extended the lead to 3-0 a little more than two minutes into the second period. Mound Westonka responded on a goal from Abby Brustad to shrink the Blake lead to 3-1.

DAVID LA VAQUE

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