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First Lightning Season Exceeds Expectations


March 18 proved to be a bittersweet day for the Minnesota Lightning. On the down side the Lightning fell to the Ice Breakers, 2-4, in the third place game of the Women's Hockey Association of Minnesota (WHAM) State Tournament, but on the upside the Lightning closed the books on what proved to be a season that exceeded the expectations of all those close to the team.

The Lightning, in its first year of existence, finished the 2000-2001 season with a 19-11-6 record, 14-6-2 in league play, and qualified for the WHAM State Tournament.

"The season was a great success," defenseman Toni Melson said. "It was surprising that a brand new team would be able to jell that quickly. (Coming into the season), I never expected that we would get to state."

"I was worried at the beginning that we wouldn't win any games," forward Karen Rhein said. "It was impressive that we did as well as we did. The whole season was positive."

In the round-robin portion of the state tournament, the Lightning strung together ties with Metro Siding, Ultimate Golf, and the Ice Breakers. In all three games the Lightning trailed, and in all three games the team battled back to tie the score.

"I thought we showed a lot of character in the state tournament," defenseman Anne Steiner said. "For most of the season, we struggled with coming from behind in games. Usually, if we got down by a couple of goals, we were out of it. This was not the case at state. No one ever quit believing that we had a chance to win."

In the third place game, the Lightning found themselves in familiar territory, down by two goals late in the game. A third period goal by Danielle Stolp pulled the team within one, but this time the Lightning could not complete the comeback.

"I was bummed that we lost the last game but more proud that we made it," forward Anne Scanlon said. "We showed ourselves well in the tournament, and we went out and played awesome hockey."

The Lightning made its presence known early on. The team won six of its first seven games, including a 2-1 upset over defending state champion Ultimate Golf in the season opener.

"It was the first organized game we had, and we beat the number one team," Scanlon said. "I knew we had it in us. We were ready."

The Lightning continued its winning ways through the holiday season. Highlighting the first half was a third place finish in the WHAM Tournament and a 5-2 victory over league runner-up Stillwater.

In the second half, the Lightning fell from the rank of first place but still took care of business in the WHAM C1 Division. In January and February the team completed sweeps of NTL, the University of Minnesota, the Rockets, the Bladerunners, the Zambonis, and the Ice Breakers. The Lightning, which finished fourth in the league, lost only two regular season games to teams below them in the standings.

In a warm up for state, the Lightning finished second at the Twin Ports Invitational in Duluth. The team rebounded from a surprising first round tie with Blades of Steel to win its next two games and earn a spot in the championship. In the final game, the Lightning fell, 3-4, to the Thunder Bay Avalanche.

A stingy defense, led by goaltender Gina Magstadt, proved to be the key for the Lightning this season. The team allowed less than two goals per game, and Magstadt recorded shutouts in 11 of the teams 19 victories this year. Defensemen Laura Dvorak, Michelle Margo, Toni Melson, and Steiner anchored a D which allowed only 62 goals against this season.

On the flip side of things, centers Beth Amos and Stolp led a potent and timely Lightning offense. Stolp was the team's leading scorer, recording 29 goals and 7 assists, while Amos added 21 goals and 6 assists.

After Stolp and Amos, the Lightning's offense was balanced with five more players logging double digit scoring totals. Stolp's linemates Nicole Helmen and Anne Miller each tallied 20 points. Rhein led all players in assists with 14 in addition to five goals for 19 points, and Michelle Baltus kicked in 17 points, highlighted by a four-goal effort versus the Blades of Steel on Dec. 17. Margo led all defensemen with six goals and five assists.

Wing Katie Hilpisch kicked in eight points and proved to be the team's most versatile player by filling in at defense in more than a quarter of the games. Scanlon and Amy Johnson added seven points, and Karla Sampson fought off a lingering back injury to appear in 20 games and record two assists.

"One of our strengths was that there wasn't one person that felt she had to carry the team," Magstadt said. "We passed well; found the open man, and everybody worked together."

A "never say die" attitude helped the Lightning to last second wins versus the Rockets on Nov. 9 and the Bladerunners on Feb. 23, and three come-from-behind efforts for ties in the WHAM State Tournament.

"Beating the Rockets with 1.4 seconds left was one of the most memorable things that happened this year," Amos said. "Everyone wanted to win that game so bad for Margo and Nicole, and then we did it with so little time left. It was great."

The most important thing to the Lightning this season was not wins, however. The team, guided by the power of the Superstar, prided itself on its ability to have fun.

"Superstar! That in itself is a definition of this team," Scanlon said. "For a group that was in a sense picked out of hat, we became a team of friends, party machines, and we rocked the world."

Magstadt added, "We're not just a hockey team; we're a social group. I've subbed for a lot of other teams and realized that not everybody has that. This is a good team to be a part of."