Box Score
Box Score
DULUTH, Minn. – The St. Scholastica women's hockey team battled back from an early two-goal deficit but came up short, falling by a 3-2 final against the University of Wis.-Eau Claire Blugolds in the season finale at Mars Lakeview Arena on Saturday afternoon.
The Saints will end their inaugural season with a 7-15-2 record (5-12-2 in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association). The Blugolds will advance into the NCHA O'Brien Cup Tournament with a 12-7-5 record (9-6-4 NCHA).
Eau Claire led by two just 4:13 into the first period, with Casey McMullen scoring just over a minute into the game and the NCHA's leading scorer, Kristin Faber, scoring her 20th of the season less than three minutes later.
The Saints battled back to pull within one just over two minutes later with #Monika Waidacher# scoring her third of the year with an assist by #Frankie Bergman#.
Before the opening period ended, the Blugolds again extended their lead to two goals, with Christine Dickinson netting her seventh of the year.
The 3-1 score held through the second period and into the third. The Saints finally broke through at the 7:59 mark with #Briana Stephens# netting her sixth of the year, assisted by #Jordan Klimek#.
The Saints continued to battle in the closing minutes of the game including a powerplay opportunity with just over two minutes remaining but could not tie it up.
#Rachel Borchardt# took the tough-luck loss in goal, stopping 19 of 22 Blugold shots. Mara Stormer stopped eight of ten shots by CSS.
Both teams finished with four penalties for eight minutes on the afternoon. CSS went scoreless in two powerplay opportunities while also killing three opportunities for the Blugolds.
The Saints had highs and lows in their first year with winning its first-ever game over Augsburg College in front of over 1,200 fans at Mars Lakeview to losing nine games by just one goal. With the first year under its belts, CSS will look to pull out those close games in year two and make a run in the NCHA. For future women's hockey news, check out csssaints.com.
