Duluth, MN. – The St. Scholastica Women's hockey team began its regular season action with a long road trip to De Pere, Wis., to play a series of two non-conference games against the Green Knights of St. Norbert College. Game one was tonight, November 1, at 7 p.m. Game two will be tomorrow, Saturday, November 2, at 2 p.m.
Game one was a physical battle through all 60 minutes of action, both teams trading blows, but for the most part, staying out of the penalty box. As the final horn blew, the score was 0-3 with the Green Knights taking home the victory in the first game of a two-game series.
First Period
Period one, the Saints' regular season debut was a strong defensive showing. The Green Knights managed to find 16 opportunities to put the puck on the net, all 16 times, goaltender
Makenzie Cole (Cohasset, Minn./Grand Rapids HS) stopped the shot.
On the other side of the ice, the Saints let nine shots fly, with six of them landing on the net.
At the start of the period, the shots were even, 6-7, but the Saints would find themselves in the penalty box for hooking. The Saints had two minutes to hold out on defense, and they did just that, only allowing four shots.
The first period would eventually come to a close with a score of 0-0.
Second Period
The second period opened up with the Green Knights pounding hard on offense, outshooting the Saints 3-13. While the Saints' defense held up very well, at 9:18 the Green Knights found a hole in the defense and scored their first goal of the game.
Following the first goal of the game, the Saints were once again on their heels, playing defense for a majority of the period, and faced a flurry of shots, with the shot counter at 2-17, before the Green Knights once again found the back of the net expanding the gap to two goals, at 17:29.
As time wound down in the second period, the final few minutes remained similar to the rest of the period, the Saints were held down on defense and faced four shots while not getting another off before the second intermission.
The score after the second period was 0-2.
Third Period
The third period opened up with the Saints bearing down, playing defense against a team that was getting opportunity after opportunity on their end.
The first goal of the period came in at the five-minute mark, as a Green Knight found the back of the net, extending the deficit to now three goals with just 15 minutes remaining.
Following the goal, both teams did an excellent job defending their side of the ice, while at the same time exchanging shots. Both teams would get off five shots, as the Green Knights would be the first in the box, the ruling on the ice was roughing. While the Saints have a strong power-play unit, St. Norbert was able to defend their net for two minutes, killing the penalty.
Nearing the end of the game, there were two stories on the ice, one of defense, the other, of desperation. The Saints rattled as many shots off as possible, but as time wound down, the final buzzer sounded, and the game ended with a final score of 0-3.
Goaltending
Makenzie Cole (Cohasset, Minn./Grand Rapids HS) was in between the pipes for the Saints. She faced 50 shots, and recorded 47 saves, registering a save percentage of .940.
Ashley Ommen was in the net for the Green Knights. She faced 14 shots and recorded 14 saves.
Up Next
The Saints (0-1-0, 0-0-0 MIAC) will remain in De Pere to once again play the Green Knights (1-0-0). Game two of this two-game series is scheduled for Saturday, November 2, at 2 p.m.
