Fortis Fires on All Cylinders in Dominant 5-0 Victory Over Twin Cities Orthopedics

Twin Cities Orthopedics entered Tuesday evening's Dangle League opener in sole possession of first place, but it was Fortis Academy that stole the spotlight with one of the most complete performances the league has seen over the past two seasons.

Fortis came into the night looking to build off its shootout victory over Performance Office Papers after dropping a tightly contested game to MNHockey.Tv. From the opening faceoff, the pace, execution and attention to detail were evident.

The game's opening goal was just simply good hockey.

It began with a quick outlet up the left-wing boards from deep inside the Fortis zone before a battle along the wall freed the puck into transition. What initially looked like a modified 2-on-2 quickly evolved into a 3-on-3 rush. Ella Olsen drove the defense deep into the zone, creating space for the late trailer. Jillian Borgmeier spotted Maleah Giesen arriving unchecked in the slot, and Giesen buried the opportunity just 5:18 into the opening half to give Fortis a 1-0 lead.

That was only the beginning. Fortis was exceptional breaking the puck out of its own zone throughout the night. Crisp first passes led to speed through center ice, and the entries consistently put Twin Cities Orthopedics on its heels. Time and again, Fortis attacked with pace off the rush, forcing TCO to defend while skating backward.

Taylor Risch doubled the lead just over four minutes later, finishing a rush created by Bonnie Zhao and Penny Gorman to make it 2-0 heading into the intermission.

The second half brought more of the same. Just 19 seconds into the period, Risch struck again off another rush, converting a feed from Mayme Scott and Zhao for her second goal of the evening. Charlotte Heckendorfe added another midway through the half off assists from Brooklyn Mauch and Angie Cody before Cody capped the scoring herself with 13:21 remaining, finishing a setup from Lexi Erickson.

Fortis controlled every area of the game, outshooting Twin Cities Orthopedics 39-15 while dictating the pace from start to finish. The defensive effort was equally impressive as the forecheck limited clean exits, the neutral-zone pressure created turnovers, and Twin Cities Orthopedics rarely generated sustained offensive-zone time.

Perhaps the most impressive statistic of the night was the zero on the scoreboard.

Shutouts are a rarity in the Dangle League, where offense is plentiful and games are typically decided by a goal or two. Fortis accomplished it by playing connected hockey in all three zones, turning in what may have been one of the league's most complete team performances over the past two seasons.

Fortis Academy returns to action Tuesday, July 7, against Tradition Mortgage at 5:30 p.m. from Braemar Arena, while Twin Cities Orthopedics will look to bounce back later that evening when it faces Performance Office Papers at 7:00 p.m.