JANESVILLE — The Janesville Bluebirds got a big win on Thursday, Jan. 8 as they defeated the Stoughton Icebergs 2-1 at Woodman’s Sports and Convention Center in Janesville.
Three local athletes play for the Bluebirds, who are a co-op team comprised of players from 11 school districts. The districts include Janesville Craig, Janesville Parker, Beloit Memorial, Turner, Edgerton, Belvidere North, Hononegah, The Lincoln Academy, Milton, Brodhead, and Monroe.
All three players area players are freshmen: Micki Andrews and Hailey Rasmussen are both of Monroe, and Julianna Strommen represents Brodhead.
Through Jan. 10, Andrews has played in 12 games and has five points on two goals and three assists. One of the goals was the very first goal of the season for the Bluebirds, which re-branded from previous years when they were known as the Rock County Fury.
Rasmussen has played in 12 games for the Bluebirds but hasn’t registered a goal or assist yet. Strommen has played in 10 games this season but hasn’t appeared on the scoring stat sheet yet, either.
Andrews said playing girls high school hockey took some getting used to.
“I came from boys hockey and that was a lot more physical. But I went to girls hockey and it was fast, but it was way slower than (boys hockey), so these competitive games are kind of a shock to the system. But I’m also learning to grow and compete with the people I’m playing against,” said Andrews.
Rasmussen said she never envisioned herself becoming a hockey player, but absorbed hockey watching her sisters play.
“It was definitely not on my mind, although I was at rinks all the time for my sister’s games. I did not really think I wanted to join it because I see how competitive and aggressive it was. I’m like, ‘I’m too fragile to play this sport.’ But once I played it, I was one of the hardest hitters on my team,” Rasmussen said.
When asked if playing girls hockey is a dream come true, Andrews said, “it’s really cool to play with all these other girls who have grown up doing the same things I do and love it.”
Rasmussen said it’s a lot of hard work to compete at hockey.
“Yeah, it’s quite challenging to keep up at this pace, but that’s what the practices are for with all the conditioning and all the hard work,” Rasmussen said.
At the halfway point of the season, the Bluebirds are 3-9-1 overall and 1-3 in the Badger Conference. Up next is four more home games, including: Beaver Dam (Jan. 15), Viroqua (Jan. 17), Badger Lightning (Jan. 20) and Cap City Cougars (Jan. 22).
The regular season will conclude on Feb. 12.
