When the Forest Lake boy’s hockey team graduated its two starting goalies, it paved the way for something special to happen this season.
We showed up at a typical Wednesday practice for the Rangers, only to find something not so typical underneath the mask of their netminder.
“The hair is a dead giveaway,” Forest Lake head coach Jon Loo said.
For junior goalie Josie Bothun, playing with the boys is all about preparing for Penn State.
Last year, Josie was so good against the girls, she decided the best way to get ready for Division I was making a move some saw as drastic.
“I remember people were just like, ‘Why?’” Bothun said.
Josie’s new teammates though, never once had their doubts.
“She’s always been a competitor her whole life,” junior defenseman Cole Carpenter said. “She’s always had a passion for the game, and I could tell if she were to make the jump up to boy’s hockey she’d be successful.”
“It’s like I have 20 brothers around,” Bothun said. “There’s no awkward. I’m one of them.”
But Josie doesn’t just feel like she belongs, her play this season has proved it.
On the year, Josie has racked up a 6-3 record and some bumps and bruises along the way too.
“As a coach you want kids that every time they face an obstacle they rise up even more,” Loo said. “She has that in spades.”
It’s not the first time the state has seen a girl in net against the boys though.
Olympic goalie Maddie Rooney did it as a senior at Andover, and former Gopher Noora Raty played boy’s hockey in her native Finland.
Both now mentor Josie.
“Those women are a major influence on me because they paved the way,” Bothun said.
Now it’s Josie’s turn to pave the way for the next generation.
“There’s no girl, boy,” Bothun said. “We’re all hockey players.”