SIOUX FALLS - Brittini Flachman thought the stopping of pucks had stopped earlier this year, but now that's not the case.

The Harrisburg High School graduate and star goalie for the girls Sioux Falls Flyers hockey team is going to play for the Minnesota Crunch next season, a new Under-19 junior team designed to give hockey players time to develop as college prospects.

"I'm ecstatic," said Flachman, who had a 19-5 record this season with a 1.78 goals-against average with the state champion Flyers. "I can't explain it. I thought my competitive hockey career was over and now it's not. I have at least another year of hockey now at a very competitive level."

Flachman was the first goalie for the girls Rushmore Thunder team until her family moved to Sioux Falls last year.

While men's junior programs like the USHL's Sioux Falls Stampede dot the upper Midwest, the Crunch, which will play its home games in Grand Rapids, Minn., is the first such attempt to field a women's program in Minnesota.

"We're using the men's junior programs as a model," said Dan Clafton, a Grand Rapids native who created the team. "In putting together the team we've really tried to recognize the potential of some girls who aren't yet committed to college hockey."

The Crunch will be coached by Chris Marinucci, a 1994 Hobey Baker Award winner at Minnesota-Duluth who also reached the NHL for a short time. The squad will play 40 to 50 games, with many of them coming against teams from Canada, where women's junior programs are more prevalent. The squad will also take trips to play in the northeastern U.S., where junior women's programs are also popular.

"This is either going to work out fine or you'll see me on the ground in a fetal position sucking my thumb at the end of the season," said Clafton, whose son Grant was a Division I hockey player for former Stampede coach Bob Motzko at St. Cloud State. "We just think it's time for a women's junior program around here."

Just in time for Flachman, as it turns out. Brittini's father, Dana, became aware of the team after a conversation with a friend from North Dakota and, knowing how much his daughter loved hockey, began investigating.

"We thought she was done, and that was sad," Dana said. "She'd played in a men's league when we lived in Rapid City and she probably would have still played in a league like that because she loves the game, but it wasn't going to be the same. We're all thrilled that she can continue to play."

South Dakota vs. Minnesota in hockey is an apples-to-oranges comparison regardless of gender. When the high school teams from South Dakota play in Minnesota tournaments, they are most often facing teams consisting of players who were not good enough to make their varsity high school teams.

Now, Flachman will be facing the varsity.

"I know I'm going to have to work on getting faster," she said. "And I'm going to have to get in better shape. It will be a lot of hard work, but we're going to practice every day and work on strength every day. I think if I go into it with a good attitude, I'll get better."

Crunch players must pay the team $7,500 for the year. Players will stay in a dorm-style motel during the season and be required to take classes at Itasca Community College.

Flachman's hockey career resumes on Aug. 11, when the Crunch reports for camp.

"Brittini's stats stick out," Clafton said. "That got me interested right away. I made some calls to some hockey people I know who were familiar with her and the reviews were very positive. We're looking forward to working with her."