It took a little longer than she hoped, but Benilde-St. Margaret's goalie Abbey Miller can now boast that she has more career shutouts than any other girl in Minnesota high school hockey history.
Miller, a senior who has signed to play at Syracuse next year, needed just seven saves to post the 29th shutout of her career in the Red Knights' 8-0 victory over North Metro in Saturday's Class 2A, Section 6 quarterfinals. It was Miller's sixth shutout of the season but her first since she blanked Buffalo on Dec. 21.
"I was putting a lot of pressure on myself [to get the shutout] and somehow, I managed to mess it up every time,'' Miller said. "One time, I passed the puck right to the other team and they scored. When I finally got it, it felt really good. It was my individual goal for the season. The whole team was excited."
Getting the record also allowed Miller to focus on the primary goal, which is trying to help the Red Knights reach the state tournament.
"It was nice to get it out of the way and not have it in the back of my mind," she said.
The previous record of 28 was held by Amy Jones, who set it while playing for Park Center from 1998 through 2000. Jones, coincidentally, is the junior varsity coach at Benilde-St. Margaret's.
Unbeatens
Three west metro wrestlers head into the upcoming section meets with undefeated regular-season records.
St. Michael-Albertville 126-pounder Tommy Thorn, the 2013 Class 3A 120-pound champion, is 36-0. Delano's 106-pound freshman Tucker Sjomeling is 35-0 and Mound-Westonka junior 120-pounder Sam Bennyhoff finished the regular season 33-0.
