For only the second time in school history Friday, International Falls came out ahead of Silver Bay-Two Harbors-Cook County.
Friday’s 2-0 victory in the home opener at Bronco Arena also marked the first career victory for head coach Gerald Bolstad.
“I knew we had a shot against them and we played good,” Bolstad said immediately after leaving a roaring locker room.
“I thought the girls really battled,” he added.
Mackenzie Raboin and Sydney Gordon each tallied a goal and Taylar Nelson stood on her head in net, stopping 32 shots in a shutout.
“I just try my best and I couldn’t have done it without my team. They played well,” Nelson said.
The No. 11 Mariners, coming off an 11-1 loss to No. 2 Blake, lost only four seniors from last year’s team. They peppered Nelson in the third period, but it was too little, too late. Silver Bay struggled the first two periods with getting quality shots on net. Everything went wide, was too high or straight at Nelson.
Mariners head coach Mike Guzzo wasn’t discouraged.
“January is a long way away. They’ll be back,” Guzzo said about the Jan. 22 rematch between the two teams.
After a scoreless first period, where the Mariners outshot the Broncos 8-7, Raboin opened the scoring shortly after the Broncos’ second penalty. As Gordon came out of the penalty box with just under seven minutes to play in the period, she got the puck and made a rush toward Silver Bay goalie Nikki Mealey. After a nifty move, Gordon found Raboin all alone with plenty of open net to work with.
“That play was all hers,” Raboin said. “I just tapped it in.”
Just three minutes earlier, Gordon lost the puck on a similar scoring chance.
The Broncos (1-1), coming off a 10-1 loss to No. 11 Roseau (Class 2A) in the season opener, added an insurance goal on the power play with 14:03 remaining when Gordon slipped a wrist shot past Mealey.
“It was nice to come off that rough Roseau game with a win,” Raboin said.
The Broncos were outshot 15-10 in the third, but held on using primarily two lines.
“We worked really well together tonight,” Raboin said. “We were switching things on the bench and things were working. We’ll just have to keep it up.”
The Broncos return to action Tuesday at home against Park Rapids before hitting the road this weekend in a tournament at Silver Bay.
Game notes
• The only other victory against Silver Bay-Two Harbors-Cook County came during the 2003-04 season when the Broncos won 1-0. International Falls finished 10-14-1 that season.
• On the injury front, junior Ashley Bahr will find out today if she’ll have an MRI on her ailing right knee. She’s missed both games. Eighth-grade goalie Keanna Carlson also missed Friday’s game with an injury and her return is unknown.
International Falls 2,
Silver Bay 0
SB 0 0 0—0
IF 0 1 1—2
First period — No scoring.
Second period — IF, Mackenzie Raboin (Sydney Gordon), 12:24.
Third period — IF, Gordon (Raboin, Michelle McDonald), PP, 3:57.
Goalies — SB, Nikki Mealey, 22 saves; IF, Taylar Nelson, 32 saves.
