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  • A shot by Mankato West's Callie Looft (14) gets up under the mask of Mankato East/Loyola goalie Melany Anderson during the second period Thursday at All Seasons Arena. Looft is defended by East/Loyola's Ali Schreiber. Pat Christman

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January 12, 2012

West goalie makes East/Loyola earn victory

By Shane Frederick Free Press Staff Writer

MANKATO — The balance of power for girls hockey in this town may have shifted from the west side to the east side this season, but Mankato West made East/Loyola earn every bit of its 3-0 victory on Thursday night.

More accurately, Scarlets goalie Maggie Cusey made the Cougars earn it.

Cusey stopped 57 of 60 shots in the Big Nine Conference game at All Seasons Arena. The eighth-grader gave up all three goals in the second period when East/Loyola fired 29 shots on her.

“(Cusey) was all over the place,” Cougars forward Maddie McCargar said. “We had so much trouble getting it by her.”

McCargar got the first puck past her, but it took three tries. Cusey stopped her first shot then turned back Amanda Broman’s rebound try before McCargar retrieved the puck again and scored at 2:46 of the second period.

With 5:35 left in the period, Sarah Biesterveld scored a power-play goal as she fell to the ice on the goal line near the right post. McCargar assisted on the play.

Less than two minutes later, Savannah Quandt scored on an end-to-end rush, finishing with a beautiful backhanded shot over Cusey’s glove.

“We got some gritty goals,” Cougars coach Nate Fuller said. “We had to earn everything we got, for sure.”
Not to be overlooked was East/Loyola’s own solid goaltending performance. Melany Anderson stoped 16 shots for the shutout win. She also earned an assist on Quandt’s goal.

“Mel didn’t see a lot of shots, but she made some big saves when she had to,” Fuller said.

But Cusey nearly stole the show, keeping the game scoreless after one period by stopping 14 shots.

“By far, that’s the best game she’s played,” Scarlets coach Cara Samuelson said. “She’s young, and to come into the East-West game is always tough. We told her, ‘Make the first couple of saves, and the rest will come,’ and she did that.”

Cusey also had 18 saves in the third period.

“(The Scarlets) were really great competition tonight,” McCargar said. “They did not let down at all.”

West (3-13-0) will play again at 7 p.m. Saturday at Owatonna. East/Loyola (14-3-1) will travel to Faribault Saturday for a 7 p.m. game.

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