Nice article - watch out if these two get on the same line!!
Irondale girls' hockey: There's so much more to achieve
By DAVID La VAQUE, Star Tribune
November 12, 2008
Meghan Lorence is 16 and Gina McDonald is almost 17, so they cannot be called old. But they are getting older.
Set to begin their fourth season with the Irondale girls' hockey team, the pair share a new perspective. Once heralded as the program's future, they are now respected veterans whose every move and mood influences the team. And despite great individual success, they have not led the Knights on a deep playoff run. Two years ago, they reached the section semifinals. Last season, they were ousted in the first round.
"It's frustrating that we've come so close because we know we had the potential to go farther," McDonald said. "Every year we have the hope of getting farther, and we all think we can do it."
Coach Tom Rodefeld called McDonald, a junior, the greatest playmaker he has seen. A speedy player who can see the whole ice, she was the only Minnesotan to earn a spot on the U.S. Women's U-18 Select Team.
Lorence, a sophomore, scores goals in bunches. A competitor willing to crash the net, she set the program record for points (25-25--50) as an eighth-grader, then broke her own mark with 35 goals and 58 points as a freshman last season.
"They understand they're both special players," Rodefeld said. "But they have always been about the team."
With Lorence and McDonald pushing the play, Irondale piled up 40 victories the past two seasons -- unprecedented success for the program. The Knights' brand of up-tempo hockey produced an average of 5.3 goals per game last season, up a full goal from 2006-07. The playoff losses smolder, however.
"We've had good seasons, but we need to win the big games," Lorence said. "Hopefully we can overcome that this year."
McDonald must first overcome a fractured fibula, an injury she suffered during a hockey tournament in September. She and Lorence were playing together on a line at the time.
"I knew it wasn't a good thing when I turned to look and saw she was crying," Lorence said. "Gina never cries."
Upon learning the leg was broken, both girls and Rodefeld went looking for a calendar to see how much season McDonald might miss. Her walking boot came off the morning of Oct. 30 and she skated for a few minutes later that day. She expects to be cleared for game action later this week.
The injury marred an otherwise bright summer of hockey. In August, she participated in the Women's Under-18 Series in Lake Placid, N.Y. The experience "made me realize how hard I have to work to keep up at that level."
Lorence also learned there is no rest for the best. She played in the High School Fall Elite League, which ended the day before Irondale's varsity tryouts.
Both played locally with the Minnesota Junior Whitecaps, where Lorence and McDonald skated on the same line. They are petitioning Rodefeld to pair them up during the high school season. Stacking a line can work against a team lacking depth, but McDonald in confident the program is producing solid players in larger numbers.
"It was exciting looking out on the ice at tryouts today because I think everyone looks pretty good," she said.
The depth of their appreciation for hockey has grown too. They have only this season and next season to play together, meaning they have had more yesterdays than they will have tomorrows. And at this point, Lorence and McDonald have more to show for the regular season than the postseason.
"The kids are saying, 'It's gonna happen,'" Rodefeld said. "And they're talking about it in the present tense, not when Gina is a senior or when Meghan is a senior."
David La Vaque • 612-673-7574
© 2008 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.
Irondale Article
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