Girls’ hockey comes out of the gate breaking records

• Anna Carman

Captain Anna Carman, who scored both goals in the Mariners’ games last weekend, takes the puck from an International Falls player. Jill Innis
• Rachel Dilley

Rachel Dilley shoots during the Mariners’ game against International Falls last Friday. Jill Innis

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The Silver Bay Area girls’ hockey team had only played two games this season by press time, but goalie Cassie Swanson already broke a school record.

In its second game of the season against No.7 ranked Orono, senior goaltender Swanson made 47 saves—the most ever for a Silver Bay girls’ goalie. She helped her team stay competitive throughout the game, finishing 1-3 after three tough periods of play. Swanson is the backbone of a strong defensive line, head coach Mike Guzzo said.

“Our defense was impressive. We’ve got some strong seniors,” he said.

The squad also lost to International Falls on Friday 1-2. Both goals of the weekend were scored by junior Anna Carman.

“It was a competitive game. We’ve got a really young team this year so it’s going to take a little time to whip them into shape,” Guzzo said with a laugh.

He said the team has great offense during power plays, a skill they’ve been honing this year. A power play occurs when a player from the other team is sidelined for a penalty. However, if the other team doesn’t get any penalties, the Mariners don’t get the chance to strike.

“It kind of hurts us if we wait, he said.

He said they’ll be focusing on offense in upcoming practices and he hopes they can step up their scoring game.

The team is an assortment of players from around the area. The bulk of the team is from Silver Bay, but they have four Cook County players, three Ely-Babbit players and four players from Two Harbors. Guzzo said he’s looking forward to working with the new players.

“When you’ve coached this long, it’s the new faces (that are so exciting),” Guzzo said.

They’ve had an up-tick in enrollment this year, resulting in an opportunity to bring back the junior varsity team which was on hiatus because there weren’t enough girls. The JV won both its games over the weekend, so the up-and-comers look promising.

Guzzo said he’ll push the girls hard this year but wants to make sure they’re smiling, too.

“You’ve got to try to win to have fun…they go hand-in-hand,” he said.

Tags: silver bay, sports, hockey