Notables
-The four goals came from four separate Saints
-Saints killed off all five power plays 
-First period saw seven penalties between the two clubs

DULUTH, Minn. (csssaints.com) - After a difficult road trip over the weekend, the St. Scholastica women's hockey team found its rhythm against Marian University (Wis.), taking home a 4-1 Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) victory on Tuesday night.

First Period Penalties
The game opened up with two consecutive Sabre penalties. The first one was killed off successfully by Marian, but the Saints used the second opportunity to jump into an early lead over their opponents thanks to Mac Johnson (Monticello, Minn./Monticello HS (St. Cloud State)), assisted on the power play goal by Greta Nundahl (New Brighton, Minn./Irondale HS) and Sierra Hanowski (Warroad, Minn./Warroad HS) after seven minutes of play had passed. Four minutes later, the Sabres tied the score at 1-1 with a Hailey Miller goal. The Sabres were then called for a hooking penalty, which put the Saints on the power play once again. With the player advantage, the Saints managed to score after only 30 seconds when Sierra Hanowski (Warroad, Minn./Warroad HS) got a stick on a pass from Brenna Smith (Apple Valley, Minn./Apple Valley HS), deflecting the puck past the keeper into the net. Johnson and Smith collected assists on the second power play goal of the game for the Saints. CSS would go on to play almost all of the last five minutes of the first period at a disadvantage due to penalties, including 20 seconds of 3-on-5 play, which they successfully killed off to hold the score at 2-1 heading into the first intermission.

Strong Finish
The second period began with 4-on-4 play as each team completed late penalties from the first period. With both teams at full strength, Alexia Klaas (Duluth, Minn./Duluth Denfeld HS (Minnesota-Duluth)), assisted by Abby Sawyer (Owatonna, Minn./Owatonna HS) and Tessa Lowry (Calgary, Alberta/Edge School), battled hard in front of the net to put a goal in for the Saints. That put CSS up 3-1 just six minutes into the second period. That would be the only goal scored in the period, despite a power play opportunity for the Sabres and two for the Saints.

The third period was more of the same, with the teams trading time between offensive zones with neither team able to get another point on the board. A few minutes past the halfway point of the period, Emily Stegora (Red Wing, Minn./Red Wing HS (Minnesota State-Mankato)) was finally able to to find the net for the Saints, with help from Lowry, to extend the lead even further to 4-1. The final seven minutes of the game passed without any scoring plays, and the Saints took the victory.

Notable Performances
The Saints had four players - Hanowski, Johnson, Stegora, and Klaas - score goals to push them to victory. Sawyer had five shots on goal with an assist. Lindsey Hartfiel (Big Lake, Minn./Buffalo HS) was between the pipes for CSS and she saved 24 of the 25 shots she faced. 

Hailey Miller had the only goal for the Sabres, on which Ally Fox recorded the assist. Sarah Bier put six shots on goal. Maddy Dixon saved 18 of the 22 shots she faced

Up Next
The Saints (5-3-1, 3-2-1 NCHA) have a short break before getting back on the ice on December 3 when they face UW-River Falls at the Mars Lakeview Arena. Puck drop is set for 2 p.m. Follow the action live on Saints Sports Net.