Park's goalie: Nothing but nets

It was Allie Morse's turn to play goalie. Such is life when you're 8 years old, when it's not uncommon for most hockey players to rotate through the position at least once. Positions aren't set in stone, kids are still in the very early stages of the game and, well, teams often don't have a committed goaltender yet.

In Morse's debut, she allowed 15 goals and her mite squad fell 15-0. A traumatic experience for a kid?

"I figured it was done. That'd be it," said Steve Morse, her father and Park of Cottage Grove's coach.

Turns out she fell in love with it.

"She said she couldn't wait to do it again," Steve added with a laugh. "I said 'OK, but if we're going to do this, we're going to do it differently next time.' We went out and got a little training and what not."

With girls' practice beginning Monday, Allie Morse will begin her senior season with the Wolfpack as one of the state's top goaltenders. As a junior, she posted a .924 save percentage and 2.07 goals against average in the high-powered Suburban East Conference.

While she might have flown under the radar at Park, Morse is drawing plenty of looks. For the third year in a row, she was invited to the USA Hockey National Player Development Camp, this time for the Select 17s, held at St. Cloud State University in late June.

It features the country's top players, including eight goalies. Only two Minnesotans were selected at her position. Morse gave up one goal and was chosen to play in the camp's all-star game.

There is also a chance she will be invited to the USA Hockey camp in December to determine the U.S. National Under-18 Team, which will compete in the World Women's U18 Championship in the Czech Republic in early January.

USA Hockey scouts came as recently as last weekend to watch Morse play in the Elite League. College hockey coaches also have been sizing her up, which isn't easy to do until you see her play.

Her 5-5 frame might not stand out, but her skill set does.

"Some goalies are blessed with size and they get to use that," Steve Morse said. "Allie doesn't get to use that. She's got other things that compensate for it."

Allie is athletic, mobile, handles the puck well, and has developed a strong glove hand dating to her softball days.

Morse represents a Park of Cottage Grove system of high-quality goaltending, a group credited to goalie coach Mike Moline. Moline led North St. Paul to the state tournament in 1981 and played for Minnesota Duluth.

"He's definitely a huge part of where myself and all of the goalies from Cottage Grove are at," Allie said. "He has such a passion for it."

Park of Cottage Grove is ahead of the game when it comes to making a commitment to goaltending, as evidenced by Moline's eight-year tenure. Now that Allie is older, she's getting involved and working with young goaltenders.

For the past few years, Morse has assisted Moline with the youth clinics and camps at Park of Cottage Grove. She has also been a counselor at former Gophers coach Doug Woog's hockey camp.

Whether it's teaching or playing, Morse tries to bring the same mindset to the rink every day. If she didn't, she would have never put the goalie pads on again after that first mites game.

"If I get scored on, I want to fix it in my head and I don't want to let it happen again," Allie said. "I know that's what gets me motivated now and it's always been that way."