Appleton, Wis. – The Saint Scholastica Women's hockey team took to the road on a long journey to Appleton, Wis. to open their 2025-26 season against the Vikings of Lawrence University. Tonight's season opener saw the Saints open with a 1-0 shutout victory.

How it Happened

First Period
The Saints came out sharp from the opening faceoff, dictating play and keeping the puck deep in the offensive zone. Lyndi Schubert (Mantorville, MN/Kasson-Mantorville HS), Hanley Block (Alexandria, MN/Alexandria HS), and Greta Culshaw-Klein (Maplewood, MN/Tartan HS) generated several early shots, forcing Lawrence's goaltender to make multiple saves.

St. Scholastica's forecheck set the tone — with Isabella Brama (Minneapolis, MN/Academy of Holy Angels) and Sophie Parendo (Proctor, MN/Proctor HS) applying pressure and creating turnovers in the attacking end. The Saints also killed off an early penalty with strong defensive work from Victoria Nelson (Mahtomedi, MN/Mahtomedi HS) and Bailey Coole (Duluth, MN/Duluth East HS), holding Lawrence without a shot during the two-minute stretch.

The Saints nearly broke through when Morgan Mitchell (Farmington, MN/Farmington HS) rang a shot off the post midway through the period, but the game remained scoreless after one despite St. Scholastica outshooting Lawrence 13–7.

Second Period
The Saints' persistence paid off midway through the second period. After drawing a body-checking penalty, St. Scholastica's power play went to work — and Katie Sandelin (Hermantown, MN/Hermantown HS) delivered. At 7:27, Sandelin buried a power-play goal from the slot off crisp passing from Culshaw-Klein and Grace Chapman (Blaine, MN/Blaine HS), putting the Saints on top 1–0.

The goal marked Sandelin's first of her career as a Saint, and proved to be the game-winner. St. Scholastica continued to control the pace, maintaining pressure and killing another penalty late in the period with excellent goaltending from Makenzie Cole (Cohasset, MN/Grand Rapids HS), who turned aside every shot she faced.


Third Period
In the third, the Saints showed poise and discipline to protect their one-goal lead. Block and Alaina Hedberg (St. Paul, MN/Tartan HS) anchored the defense, blocking shots and clearing rebounds in front of the net.

Cole continued her stellar play, stopping all seven shots in the final period, including two key saves in the final minute after Lawrence pulled its goalie for the extra skater. The Saints' defense stood firm, and Coole blocked a last-second attempt to preserve the shutout.

Goaltending
Cole – 60:00, 7 SOG, 7 saves, 1.00 save percentage
Dobrzynski – 59:03, 30 SOG, 29 saves, .966 save percentage 

What's Next
The Saints (1-0-0, 0-0-0 MIAC) will remain in Appleton, Wis., for the second game of their two-game road trip against the Vikings (0-1-0) of Lawrence University. Game two is scheduled for 5 P.M. tomorrow, Saturday, November 1st.