Despite the Bismarck Blizzard winning the past four North Dakota Girls’ hockey championships, we could have a new champion on our hands come the state tournament. Upon beating Mankato East, a Minnesota team, 7-2 at home on Friday, Jan. 15, the girls improved to 15-0-1. Their only error was a tie to Bismarck at home on Dec. 5.

The game against Mankato East was senior night, so after announcing the senior girls and their families, it was game on. The game was looking to be pretty close after the first period, with the score being 1-0 FNS after a goal from Abby Promersberger halfway through the period.

The feeling of a close game ended shortly after the second period started. Junior Katelyn Arman scored with 11:49 remaining, and three more goals less than four minutes followed. Senior Mackenzie Hanson and Senior Samantha Martin scored, and Promersberger added on her second of the night. On a 5-3 power play, Mankato fired back with a goal from Sydney Kanstrup, leaving the score 5-1 at the end of the second.

Within the first four minutes of the third, Mankato’s Madison Davis put one in the back of the net, but Promersberger competed her hat trick less than three minutes later.  Chloe Bry ended up scoring the final goal of the night at 9:52 into the third, leaving the final score 7-2 FNS.

The next day, the girls had a rematch against Bismarck. This time the puck slid in their favor. Hannah Dorsey scored within the first minute of the game, and had another goal midway through the second. The stats proved the game to be a defensive battle, with only 14 shots on net for FNS and 23 for Bismarck. Thanks to Senior goalie Lauren Harr, the shot differential didn’t seem to affect the final score. With Dorsey’s two goals, FNS won the highly competitive game 2-0 and improved to 12-0-1 in the state standings.