Riley Fogarty was on fire.

The Northern Lakes girls hockey player and junior captain scored four goals in the Lightning’s 6-0 win over Prairie Centre.

Fogarty attends Pequot Lakes and is a two-sport athlete playing tennis and Northern Lakes hockey.

Her four-goal night was helped by her teammate Rose Aldridge who assisted on all her goals.

“We were both just on a roll that night,” Fogarty said. “It’s a good feeling to be in the zone because the whole team gets hyped up and everyone was really having a good night.”

Two of her four goals were rebounds, which was a focus in practice that week.

“She was just persistent,” Northern Lakes head coach Chuck Deutsch said. “And if you notice on the scoresheet Rose assisted on all four goals.”

Aldridge and Fogarty have built chemistry from playing on the “blue line” which Duetsch calls his first line.

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“It’s really funny to watch them go,” Deutsch said. “One game one of them will have the goals. The next the other will. They are like a mirror image of each other. They are our two best players.”

The two have also been linemates since youth hockey.

“We have just always had a good connection on and off the ice,” Fogarty said. “It’s helpful to have a really good friend out there to be able to read.”

Fogarty leads the Lightning in scoring with nine goals in nine games. She is tied for the team-lead in points with Alridge at 12.

“It’s been a bit of a transition,” Fogarty said. “I’ve always had the older girls to lean on like last year (Caitly n) Gutzman was our main scorer and it’s been a bit of a transition for me to take over that top scorer spot.”

Northern Lakes is a young team with one senior and needed to replace their top scorers from last year. Deutsch knew Fogarty and Aldridge would be the two he would lean on offensively and they have delivered.

“Riley and Rose are going to be our top two scorers there’s just no way around it,” Deutsch said. “I knew that coming in and that’s just the way it’ll play out next year as well.”

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The effort Deutsch’s team has put in, however, is encouraging to him.

“We had a couple games where we have been shutout and outshot the other team. We just didn’t get rebounds,” he said. “I look forward to the competition and I always tell them that their effort is the key thing.”

As a sophomore last season, Fogarty tallied five goals and four assists in 25 games.

“Her leadership quality is there,” Deutsch said. “Riley is a little more hardcore. Knowing that she is in that star role this year she needed to step up and she has. Sometimes it’s hard for kids to step up, but she has.”

Now as a captain, Fogarty is one of the more serious, hardnose players for Northern Lakes. She goes in the corners and is very physical.

“She knows how to position herself and battle in the corners,” Deutsch said. “She doesn’t taunt, but does everything with her body.”

She keeps the team in line and focused.

“Definitely in games I’m on it more than when we are on the bus just talking,” she said. “I think that it helps me and the players to realize that when it’s game time it’s time to go.”

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Her communication with the younger players is also key as she remembers how important it was for her when was an eighth grader on the team.

“I want to make sure they know they are a big part of the team,” Fogarty said. “And just help that transition to the high school hockey team. Just being a bigger voice on the team and distracting them in a good way on and off the ice.”

Fogarty describes herself as a competitive person who loves to win, but with hockey, she likes the team aspect that tennis doesn’t provide as much.

“I just like going into a game being really hungry to win,” she said. “That’s just how I am with every sport.”

She’s also an easy learner and can execute a system Deutsch implemented without much delay.

“She’ll recognize what we aren’t doing well and I can hear her in the locker room and echo what I’ve been teaching,” Deutsch said.

Northern Lakes is 3-6 as of Friday, Feb. 19, and Fogarty said it’ll be a grind the rest of the season, but is really excited about next year with the young players getting experience this season.

“I think we will be a really good team next year,” she said. “I see us making a run at sections next year.”

Other notable performances:

Basketball: Kendal Swantek, Little Falls, scored 24 points against Mora.

Ramsey Tulenchik, Pine-River Backus, scored 23 points against Nevis and 28 against Red Lake.

Rylie Hirschey, Pine-River Backus, scored 20 points against Nevis and 25 against Red Lake.

Tori Oehrlein, Crosby-Ironton, scored 32 points against Moose Lake-Willow River.

Tori Plemel, Lake Region, recorded 20 points and 12 rebounds against Rosemount.

Maci Martini, Pequot Lakes, scored 19 points against Crosby-Ironton and Roseau.

Hockey: Rose Aldridge, Northern Lakes, tallied four assists against Prairie Centre.

Kate Stephens, Northern Lakes, recorded 29 saves against River Lakes.

Riley Fogarty

Year: Junior

School: Pequot Lakes

Sport: Hockey

Position: Forward

Highlights: Scored four goal against Prairie Centre