by Todd Abeln
Thisweek Newspapers

The Lakeville girls' hockey team has a lot of experience returning but does have some questions to answer.

The Panthers lost only four players from last year's squad that finished fourth at the state tournament a year ago.

But those four players included the Panthers' top goalie, top defender and leading scorer, so they have some holes to fill.

Head coach Herb Harvey said that the team has many returners who play well as a team and have good leadership skills, which should help offset the key losses.

Lakeville's biggest question mark all season long will be in goal. Lindsey Kauchick and Kaitlyn Horn will split time trying to replace All-State goalie Christine Seiler.

"We are inexperienced in goal, that's not really a weakness but you need experience at this level of play,î Harvey said.

The Panthers should be solid on defense which should help the goalies learn on the job.

Returning to the blue line are seniors Alicia Olson, Katie Brutlad, Steph Sandstrom and junior Lauren Haverly.

Last year the Panthers struggled to score goals and used a solid defense and goaltending to win a lot of games.

This year should be no different but they may have more trouble scoring.

They lost their top scorer from a year ago and are looking for an experienced group of forwards to take a big step forward in the goal-scoring department.

Returning for the Panthers are seniors CiAnna Weikle Kallie Larson and junior Corrie Weikle and freshman Emma Lehman.

Harvey and the Panthers return many other forwards who should provide some goal scoring.

But for the Panthers to return to the state tournament, they will need two key elements.

"We will need solid goaltending and will need to score more goals this year,î Harvey said.

Todd Abeln is at sports.thisweek@ecm-inc.com.

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