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Robbinsdale Armstrong girls put up 12 goals before halftime to rout Robbinsdale Cooper

By Ryan Williamson, SportsEngine, 04/16/21, 4:00PM CDT

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The Falcons flew to their first win of the season with six players scoring two goals apiece.

The Falcons’ Stella Ross drives towards the goal in the first half Friday night in Robbinsdale Armstrong's 15-0 defeat of Robbinsdale Cooper. Photo by Earl J. Ebensteiner, SportsEngine

The Falcons’ Stella Ross drives towards the goal in the first half Friday night in Robbinsdale Armstrong's 15-0 defeat of Robbinsdale Cooper. Photo by Earl J. Ebensteiner, SportsEngine

With lacrosse teams statewide starting the new season after not having played at all in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was safe to assume there’d be some rust to shake off going into opening-week matchups. 

That included the officials. Early in Friday’s game between Robbinsdale’s Armstrong and Cooper high schools, the referee accidentally blew his whistle, forgetting which marking is the out-of-bounds line for girls’ lacrosse.

Armstrong, however, shook off any rust it had quickly. The Falcons took flight to a 12-0 lead going into halftime, an advantage which eventually blossomed to a 15-0 blowout of the Hawks at Cooper High School.

Kari Torgerson took the role of Falcons head coach in 2019, leading the group to a 5-9 overall record. Torgerson’s second year vanished when the spring sports season was called off to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. With two groups of seniors — the classes of 2019 and 2020 — now gone from her program, Torgerson has a much different-looking group this year.

“We had to restart this program,” Torgerson said. “We have lots of sophomores and freshmen. The captains are doing a great job teaching the younger players about things, including the little things.”

Robbinsdale Armstrong's Erin Palony (24) scored the first two goals for the Falcons Friday night in a 15-0 win over the Hawks at Cooper High School. Photo by Earl J. Ebensteiner SportsEngine

Robbinsdale Armstrong's Erin Palony (24) scored the first two goals for the Falcons Friday night in a 15-0 win over the Hawks at Cooper High School. Photo by Earl J. Ebensteiner SportsEngine

First Report

After not playing a game for nearly two years, Robbinsdale Armstrong ended its long layoff in a big way. Going up against crosstown foe Robbinsdale Cooper to open their season, the Falcons soared into halftime with a 12-0 lead and didn’t look back, as they went to defeat the Hawks 15-0 at Cooper High School on Friday.

Freshman Erin Palony was the first to kickstart the offense for Armstrong (1-0, 0-0). She scored the team’s first two goals within the opening three minutes of the first half.

The rest of the Falcons’ scorers got in on the action from there. Nine players registered points for Armstrong, with six scoring two goals apiece. Junior Stella Ross finished with a pair of goals and two assists for a team-high four points. 

Other Falcons to register two goals apiece include Grace Barron, Olivia Ojala, Jenna Hamann and Ella Steinke.

After scoring two goals in their 15-2 season-opening loss to St. Louis Park yesterday, Cooper (0-2, 0-1) continued to struggle offensively in Friday’s loss. 

Falcons freshman goaltender Lydia College earned the shutout while stopping a pair of shots. On the other side, Hawks junior goalie Adrianna Nichols faced a myriad of shots from the high-flying Hawks. Nichols made four saves in a losing effort.

Robbinsdale Cooper's Mia Korstad looks for an open teammate near the goal during the Hawks' 15-0 loss to the Falcons Friday night at home. Photo by Earl J. Ebensteiner, SportsEngine

Robbinsdale Cooper's Mia Korstad looks for an open teammate near the goal during the Hawks' 15-0 loss to the Falcons Friday night at home. Photo by Earl J. Ebensteiner, SportsEngine

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