Staff photo by Ari Selvey New Ulm’s Madalynn Olson (right) scrambles for the puck against South Central’s Jayden Drager (left) during a Big South Conference girls hockey game at the New Ulm Civic Center.

By Ari Selvey

aselvey@nujournal.com

NEW ULM — At 7:37 of the first period, New Ulm’s Madalynn Olson took the puck into the offensive zone on a breakaway, getting a pass off to Abby Forstner for a short-handed goal to open the scoring.

That ended up being the only goal of the game as New Ulm defeated the South Central Flyers 1-0 in a Big South Conference girls hockey game Tuesday at the New Ulm Civic Center.

New Ulm had many opportunities on the breakaway, especially early, and Forstner was able to capitalize off of Olson’s speed and passing.

“Our girls communicated a lot,” Olson said. “We skated the hardest we have, had good passing. Made sure to keep it clean in our d-zone to get some good breakouts. Everyone played a good game.”

Brecklyn Harazin also had an assist on the play, while New Ulm goalkeeper Ava Brennan had 18 saves.

“I thought the girls came out in the first period, and it was the best we’ve moved the puck all year,” New Ulm head coach Jeremy Reed said. “That early short-handed goal that was eventually the game winner, it was a beautiful pass. We continued to try to get pucks on the net throughout the net, continued to get bodies on the net.

“We had some plays, we had some nice looks, but at the same time, knowing it was a tight game, we had to remind the girls that it’s a one-goal game. Things might have felt different out there, but it was a one-goal game and we had to be conscious of taking care of the neutral zone and the defensive zone.”

New Ulm had a strong game, putting the puck on net with 49 shots on goal, but it was unable to get the extra tip to put it in the net. Reed wasn’t concerned about the lack of scoring, noting that South Central had a strong keeper in Ilamay Draheim.

“I think this one was the variety of hockey because we were able to control things,” Reed said. “At the end there, the final couple of minutes was actually a good exercise for us. How to handle those draws, where to go with them and what to do. Madalynn was out there at center for that.

“It was good to be able to execute the things we’ve been talking about all year. They executed well, but I think we still have a few girls holding the sticks really tight trying to get that first goal of the year, but the work ethic is definitely there.”

New Ulm saw that offense start early, getting six shots in the first seven minutes of the game. Mya Hornick picked up a slashing penalty at 7:25 for New Ulm, but just 12 seconds into the power play, Forstner scored her goal to put New Ulm up.

New Ulm killed three penalties in the game, putting up shots as well as preventing them while short-handed.

“Our mentality in the penalty kill is hard on every puck,” Olson said. “It really helps when you get a good forecheck in there, and we were able to bury one going hard to the puck.”

The second period was relatively quiet outside of a pair of penalties for the Flyers as New Ulm continued to build its shot advantage to 37-8 by the end of the period after allowing just one shot in the second. In the third period, South Central committed another penalty at 4:19, which it killed, followed by a killed penalty by for New Ulm at 9:56 in the third period. South Central pulled its goalie with two minutes remaining, but New Ulm fended off any shot attempts late to secure the win.

New Ulm (3-8, 1-4) hosts Minnesota River on Thursday.