Luverne junior wing Sadie Dietrich pokes at a puck that is smothered by LeSueur-Henderson-St. Peter goalie Brianna Thomas during the third period of Saturday’s Section 1A Girls’ Hockey Tournament quarterfinal game in Luverne. Dietrich scored a goal during a season-ending, 5-2 loss to the Bulldogs.By John RittenhouseLuverne was eliminated from the Section 1A Girls’ Hockey Tournament during a thrilling game played at the Blue Mound Ice Arena Saturday.The fourth-seeded Cardinals took on No. 5 LeSueur-Henderson-St. Peter in a contest that was up for grabs the entire night.The Bulldogs were clinging to a 3-2 lead late in the third period when they scored a pair of goals 13 seconds apart in the final minute to secure a 5-2 victory.With the win, L-H-SP advanced to Tuesday’s semifinals, where they played No. 1 New Prague at Gustavus-Adolphus College in St. Peter.Luverne’s 17-3-1 season comes to an end.The teams battled to a scoreless draw through the first 16 minutes of the first period before L-H-SP’s Casey Hanson skated past Luverne’s defensemen and netted a break-away goal with 55 seconds remaining in the stanza.Luverne battled back to knot the score at one when Natalie Domagala skated around the back of L-H-SP’s net before stuffing the puck into the net for an unassisted tally at the 14:58 mark of the second period.L-H-SP, however, netted a pair of goals before the second period was complete to gain a 3-1 advantage.Hanson received credit for a power-play goal at 11:54 when her slap shot deflected off the stick of a Luverne defender into the net. Hanson then set up Abby Aunderman’s goal with 2:36 left in period to make it a two-goal difference.Luverne got back into the game when Domagala set up a counter by Sadie Dietrich at the 11:11 mark of the third period.The Cards had some chances to tie the game as the third period progressed, but L-H-SP goalie Brianna Thomas, who made 35 saves in 37 attempts, didn’t let it happen.Bulldog Lyndsie Seaver iced the game by scoring a goal with 47 seconds left to play before adding an empty-net goal 13 seconds later.Luverne outshot the Bulldogs 37-26 in the game. Seventh-grader Sarah Schneekloth played well in net for LHS, stopping 21 of 25 shots she faced.
