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Team Info
Jeff DeJoy
Head Coach
Phone: 763-506-7182
League: MSHSL
Section: 4
Conference: Northwest Suburban
Enrollment: 2,120
Nickname: Cardinals
Colors: Red, White
Assistant Coaches: Jeff Snicale, Dale Comer, Tanner Pollock
Home Field: Coon Rapids High School
Recent Coon Rapids (Girls) News
Cardinals Defend Stadium in 12-4 Rout
Coon Rapids won its home opener April 25 with a rout over district-rival Anoka 12-4.
Coon Rapids won its home opener April 25 with a rout over district-rival Anoka 12-4.
Anoka senior Mollie Kronberg, left, looks to shoot on the Cardinals net in the first half April 25. Photo by Jason Olson
The Cardinals (3-1) led 5-0 at the half before Anoka (0-3) came to life, once again in its second half surge in what has become a characteristic coach Rachel Frosch hopes to spread out as the season moves along.
Coon Rapids led 7-0 before Anoka’s Mollie Kronberg scored with 15:15 left in the second half. Tornadoes McKenna Parent and Sarah Wells scored 15 seconds apart to make it 8-3 before Crystal Marshall scored the final Anoka goal.
The offensive power combined with the defensive patience that Coon Rapids showed simply overwhelmed the Tornadoes with a diverse attack.
Six players had two or more points for Coon Rapids as Sami DeJoy and Amanda Michalski collected hat tricks each while Stephanie Tomczyk had a three-point game (two goals, one assist). Bri Havelka and Chelsea Cyert added a goal and assist a piece and Libby Storrick had a pair of goals.
Frosch said the final score didn’t really reflect how close the game actually was.
“We have a lot of individual, young talent,” she said, three games into the 2011 campaign. “And they have a great goalie that we didn’t test nearly enough to win. I felt we didn’t shoot enough in the first half and that really was the difference.”
Four games into the Cardinals season and precise cross-field passes allowed them to move the ball quickly. They cut through the Tornadoes defense with the ball in the cross on end-to-end runs using its team speed.
Coon Rapids senior middie Ally Heida, left, carries the ball while Anoka's McKenna Parent applies pressure. Photo by Jason Olson
“We’re blessed with team speed which gives us the ability to run out of a lot of pressure,” Coon Rapids coach Jeff DeJoy said.
Coon Rapids’ defense also stood up to the test, anchored by goalie Crystal Amunrud who carries over her experience as a Senior Goalie of the Year finalist in ice hockey to make 13 saves. She helped the Cardinals surrender the second-fewest goals in the state last spring.
The Cardinals defense has surrendered three, two and four goals after No. 4 ranked Stillwater scored eight times in the season-opener loss.
DeJoy said the team wanted to work on the number of penalties against. “We’ve been in a rut lately with the penalties we’re taking,” he said. “A lot of stick fouls and we’ve been able to get away with them so far.”
Both programs continue to make strides in their third season of varsity play.
“The first year we wanted to learn how to control the ball and the second year we developed how to catch and throw so now we’re to the point where we can put in systems and patterns which is coming along very well,” DeJoy said.
Coon Rapids really experienced a breakout second-season with a 13-3 record and nearly included a Northwest Suburban Conference title.
Girls lacrosse: Ponies top Coon Rapids in opener
A stout defensive effort helped pushed the Stillwater girls' lacrosse team to an 8-3 nonconference victory over Coon Rapids in Tuesday's season opener at Pony Stadium.
Girls lacrosse: Ponies top Coon Rapids in opener
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Click image to enlarge
 Gazette photo by Scott Ertle
Stillwater goaltender Kelsey VanDerBosch makes a save in Wednesday's nonconference girls' lacrosse victory over Coon Rapids at Stillwater Area High School. |
By STUART GROSKREUTZ - Stillwater Gazette
OAK PARK HEIGHTS - A stout defensive effort helped pushed the Stillwater girls' lacrosse team to an 8-3 nonconference victory over Coon Rapids in Tuesday's season opener at Pony Stadium.
The Ponies jumped out to a 4-0 halftime lead and extended the lead with goals by Dana Almquist and Hannah Dickman to start the second half and were never seriously challenged.
Coon Rapids returned several players from a team that the Ponies edged 9-8 in last year's section semifinals so Stillwater coach Rick Reidt was pleased with Tuesday's outcome.
"Coon Rapids had the best record in our section last year," the coach said. "I was just really pleased with how our team responded, because they're a strong team."
Dickman scored four goals, including a natural hat trick in the first half, to lead the Ponies (1-0), who were missing three starters. Almquist added two goals and two assists while eighth-grader Remi Larson contributed two goals in the second half.
But Stillwater's defense was the story on Tuesday, including a strong effort from goaltender Kelsey VanDerBosch.
"I think it's the best defensive game we've played in three years," Reidt said. "We had a shutout going into about the 17-minute mark of the second half and the whole defense played great, the attackers, the midfielders and our defenders.
"Kelsey did a great job and our defense just really played well. We didn't score a lot of early goals and she came up with a lot of strong saves early in the game. Emily Norkol played a strong game and Katie Casto also played very well at defense."
The team was able to achieve other goals.
"Before the game we set some goals for our team and one was no yellow cards," Reidt said. "We were able to play very aggressive pressure defense without causing fouls or penalties.
"We also set a goal of scoring 50 percent of our eight-meter shots. That's something we've been spending a lot of time at as a team and I think our first two goals were eight meters."
n Also on Tuesday, Tessa Roush scored six goals to help lead the Stillwater JV team to a 10-4 win over the Cardinals. Clara Wicklund contributed two goals and Natalie Bourman-Karns and Erin Dougherty added a goal each. Marie Bonine and Grace Mortenson split the goaltending duties for the Ponies.
Coon Rapids 0 3 - 3
Stillwater 4 4 - 8
Goals - CR, Sammi DeJoy 2 and Amanda Michalski; St, Hannah Dickman 4, Dana Almquist 2 and Remi Larson 2.
Assists - St, Almquist 2, Sydney Evensen, Emily Gould and Savannah Handevidt.
Saves - St (Kelsey VanDerBosch) NA.
