Notables:
-Sixth straight win for CSS (Ties program record)
-Hamann has had 10 points in last five games
-Battisti has scored a point in each of last five games
-CSS scored in each of the three periods
-Shots on goal: CSS - 42, FU - 19
HANCOCK, Mich. (csssaints.com) - The St. Scholastica women's hockey team took a 5-2 win over Finlandia University (Mich.) for its third consecutive Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) series sweep and sixth straight win.
The Action
The Saints put up the first goal of the game early, just four minutes in, thanks to a goal coming from Greta Nundahl (New Brighton, Minn./Irondale HS), assisted by Kassidy Westrom (Isanti, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti HS) and Kaleigh Hamann (St. Michael, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville HS). The Saints went on a power play four and a half minutes later, but were unable to score. A minute after Finlandia (3-17-1, 3-10-1 NCHA) was back to full strength, the Saints made the score 2-0 when Taylor Thompson (Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo HS) put one past the goaltender, assisted by Alexia Klaas (Duluth, Minn./Duluth Denfeld HS (Minnesota-Duluth)). The period would see two more power plays, one for each team, but neither side would score and the game went into its first intermission.
In the second period, the Saints spent the first four minutes of the period down one skater thanks to two consecutive penalties, one for hooking and one for tripping. They killed off both penalties, though, and then took advantage of a power play of their own. Abby Sawyer (Owatonna, Minn./Owatonna HS) scored the power play goal, assisted by Hamann and Mac Johnson (Monticello, Minn./Monticello HS (St. Cloud State)) to make the score 3-0. Finlandia finally got one back a few minutes later on a Rebecca Lilly goal, putting the score at 3-1 to end the second period.
Two more goals came for the Saints in the third period. Klaas scored the first one, assisted by Paige Forsman (Cokato, Minn./Dassel-Cokato HS) and Hailee Johnson (Red Wing, Minn./Red Wing HS) less than four minutes into the period. Amanda Broman (Mankato, Minn./Mankato East HS) scored the final CSS goal of the game, assisted by M. Johnson and Giorgia Battisti (Bolzano, Italy/Rice Memorial HS (Vermont)). Fifteen seconds later, Finlandia scored to make the score 5-2 which would take the teams to the end of the game.
Goalkeeping
Lori Huseby (Babbitt, Minn./Northeast Range HS) was in goal for CSS, making 17 saves on 19 shots faced. For Finlandia, Sarah Gundry took the loss, making 38 saves on 43 shots.
Up Next
The Saints (12-3-4, 11-1-2 NCHA) hit the ice this week on Tuesday when they face the University of Wisconsin-River Falls in Wisconsin. Puck drop is set for 7:05.
