Duluth, Minn. – The Saints Scholastica Women's hockey team traveled to Winonna, Minn. yesterday, January 31, to compete in a two-game series against the Cardinals of Saint Mary's University. Today, February 1, the Saints played the second of the two games, the Saints, who fought hard through all 60 minutes fell just short of the win, with a final score of 1-3.
How it Happened
First Period
The Saints opened tonight's game up with strong defense that was met by a quick Cardinals offense. Saint Mary's began with the puck in the Saints zone, getting six shots off against the Saints, four of those shots made it to the net but were then quickly shut down, the other two got caught up in the defense and were blocked.
Following the early flurry of shots from the Cardinals, the Saints took the puck down, and got a shot off before the Cardinals did the same. The Cardinals second offensive effort did not last long, as they suffered a penalty which gave the Saints an early power play, just under six minutes into the game.
On the power play, the Saints had three scoring chances, and all made it on net, but none made it past the goaltender. The Saints defense while on the power play was also able to prevent any sort of shot from the Cardinals. The power play came to an end with the score the same as before, 0-0.
Once off of the power play, the Saints once again had to dig in on defense, nearing the halfway mark of the first period the Cardinals had the puck on offense and did not let up. They once again released a barrage of shots against the Saints, consisting of six shots on goal that goaltender Makenzie Cole (Cohasset, Minn./Grand Rapids HS) was able to shut down.
The Saints then got the puck following a face off win, and had an offensive burst of their own, attempting four shots, three of which were on target, the final shot was blocked by the Cardinals defense.
The Cardinals were not able to get another run on offense following the Saints, as they once again found themselves a skater short as a result of a high sticking penalty.
This time the Cardinals penalty kill was able to halt the advance of the Saints, only allowing three shots, two of which were blocked by the defense, and the third was off target.
The penalty came to a close with a minute remaining in the period, but both teams skated it out, not getting any more shots off, as period one came to a scoreless close.
Second Period
Right away the odds were not in favor of the Saints, the Cardinals were only able to record two shots on goal before the Saints suffered their first penalty of the game, just under a minute and a half into the second period.
While on the power play, the Cardinals attempted four shots, only two of which were on target, both were excellently stopped by Cole, the other two went wide of the net. The Saints did not take the penalty laying down, as Lyndi Schubert (Mantorville, Minn./Kasson-Mantorville HS) brought the puck down through the neutral zone and got a shot on net.
Only 13 seconds remained in the penalty for the Saints, when they got booked for another penalty, the Saints were at a two-skater disadvantage for thirteen seconds, but that did not matter as the Saints defense did not allow a single shot to be attempted by the Cardinals.
With a minute and forty seven seconds remaining in the second penalty, the Cardinals pushed hard on offense, attempting to ring in a power play goal. They attempted five shots, but the effort exerted by the Saints defense only allowed them to record two shots on goal, as the Saints defense was able to block three of their shots.
The Cardinals third power play came to an end, the score remained locked at 0-0 thanks to the Saints strong defense.
Now on even strength, the Saints tried their hand on offense, recording one shot on net, and another that was blocked by the defense.
The Cardinals then got the puck back, and on their first shot of the possession, they broke the deadlocked score, ringing in the goal just under half way through the period.
Following the Cardinals goal, they once again suffered a penalty, this gave the Saints an opportunity to tie the game back up with a power play goal. That was not the case however, as the Cardinals defense shut down the Saints' offense, only allowing two attempted shots, only one of those two managed to get on net.
The Saints power play ended, and the Cardinals once again went hard on offense, attempting five shots, and getting four on target.
The Saints brought it back the other way but were only able to get one shot on net.
The period came to a close with both teams trading offensive possessions, the Saints were out shot in the final minutes of the period getting two shots on net, compared to the Cardinals who recorded four.
Period two came to a close with the Saints down, 0-1.
Third Period
The Saints opened up period three, recording the first shot on goal between the two teams, however they were not able to hold on to the puck as the Cardinals then took it down ice and attempted two of their own that were both shut down.
The Cardinals then gave the Saints an excellent opportunity to get the game even again, taking another penalty just under five minutes into the period. But once again the penalty killers came up big, managing to attempt one shot that was saved by Cole, and only allowing the Saints to attempt one shot on goal that was ultimately stopped by the goaltender.
The penalty was over just as fast as it had begun with no change to the scoreboard. There was a change just over a minute after the power play, as the Cardinals rang in their second goal of the game, doubling the deficit to two goals.
Down two goals, with 12 minutes remaining in the game, the Saints attempted everything they could to cut the lead in half, with desperation came three attempted shots from the Saints, two of which flew by the goal, and the other was stopped by the defense before it could reach the goal.
The Cardinals were able to record two more shots on net, before the Saints suffered a penalty of their own.
The situation the Saints found themselves in was far from ideal, but the combination of great defense and excellent goaltending allowed for the Cardinals to only get three shots on net before the penalty expired.
Following the power play, the Cardinals got three more shots on net, and Cole recorded three more saves.
The Saints then brought the puck down to the Cardinals zone, got two shots on net, then pivoted back to defense where the Cardinals got one more shot on goal, and one more penalty.
Just 15 seconds into the Saints power play, Victoria Nelson (Mahtomedi, MN/Mahtomedi HS) received the puck from Sophie Parendo (Proctor, Minn./Proctor HS) and Schubert and successfully beat all lines of the Cardinal defense to score the Saints only goal of the night, and her second goal of the weekend.
The Saints goal was then quickly followed by a Cardinals timeout.
Both teams traded a shot on goal, before the Cardinals had possession offensively, getting two shots off, one saved and one caught up in the defense.
With one minute and twenty-five seconds remaining in the game, the Saints pulled their goaltender, but did not get any offensive production with the extra skater, so they called a timeout with 48 seconds to play.
With only nine seconds remaining, the Cardinals buried an empty net goal, sealing the win as the Saints failed to record another shot.
The game came to a close with the Saints just falling short with a final score of 1-3.
Goaltending
Makenzie Cole (Cohasset, Minn./Grand Rapids HS) played 58 minutes and 35 seconds for the Saints, she faced a total of 41 shots and recorded 39 saves, giving her a save percentage of .951.
Celeste Rimstad Played all 60 minutes for the Cardinals, she faced a total of 20 shots and recorded 19 saves, giving her a save percentage of .95.
What's Next
The Saints (4-15-0, 2-10-0 MIAC) will host the first of a two-game series against the Oles (8-9-1, 5-5-1 MIAC) of Saint Olaf College, on Friday, February 7, at Mars Lakeview Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 6 p.m.
