Duluth, Minn. – The Saint Scholastica Women's hockey team headed south to Northfield, Minn. to play in a MIAC Conference match up against the Oles of Saint Olaf College. Tonight's game ended in a 0-5 loss for the Saints on the road.
How it Happened
First Period
The action in tonight's game did not take long to start. After only one shot on goal, the Oles found the back of the net, taking the lead 0-1 just under two minutes into the game.
After the Oles' early goal, both teams traded shots on goal, the Saints' Jenna Horvat (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) took the puck down the ice and attempted the Saints' first shot on goal of the night.
The Oles took the puck down the ice and tried two more times to extend their lead, but goaltender Kieley Currow successfully stopped those two shots.
The Saints came back down and managed to get one shot on the net to answer the two attempts by the Oles.
The Oles once again had the puck on offense, and they had it for a long time. In the duration of their possession, they attempted a total of 10 shots, with seven of those landing on target. On the 11th attempt from the Oles, they once again beat the Saints' defense and extended their lead to two goals.
Following the Ole's second goal, Saints coach Julianne Vasichek called a time-out to regroup and get some momentum for her team.
Coming out of the time-out the Oles once again had the puck and only got two chances, one fell off target, and the other was blocked by defenseman Paige Blattner (Avon, Minn./River Lakes HS).
Defenseman Hannah Martin (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) found the puck at the point in the Oles zone and wound up for her second shot of the night, but once again an Oles defender skated in front of the line of fire and received the puck to the body, blocking the shot.
Sophie Parendo (Proctor, Minn./Proctor HS) followed up with a shot on goal of her own.
On offense, the Oles suffered a tripping penalty, giving the Saints their first power play opportunity of the night.
While on the power play, the Saints attempted six total shots, getting all six on target. This power play push was spearheaded by Victoria Nelson (Mahtomedi, MN/Mahtomedi HS), who recorded two of the six shots on goal for the Saints.
The Saints on a brief defensive stint managed to block the only shot on target presented to them by the Oles offense.
After a face-off that was won by the Saints, the Oles came back and attempted one more shot on goal, but Currow was quick enough to prevent that opportunity.
Nearing the end of the first period, the Saints attempted two more shots, one fell off target and the second, coming from Bailey Coole (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) was on target but stopped by the goaltender.
Second Period
The second period opened up with six total shots, two from the Saints, and four from the Oles. All four of the Oles shots made it to the net but were stopped by Currow, however, the Saint's two attempts were blocked by the Oles defense.
The Oles attempted one more shot but that was blocked by Grace Chapman (Blaine, MN/Blaine HS) who was positioned just right on defense. The Saints came down the ice, and Martin attempted another shot, but that fell wide. Gabby Gamst (Moose Lake, Minn./Moose Lake HS) was there for the rebound and attempted two shots, the first was saved by the goaltender and the second was blocked by the defense.
Coming down the other way the Oles got one shot off that was stopped by the goaltender, and on the rebound, scored their third goal of the game.
Following the Oles third goal, Parendo attempted another shot, but that was again blocked by the defense, and with no hesitation, the Oles came back down and sank their fourth goal of the game.
After the Oles fourth goal of the game, they attempted one more shot that was saved by Currow.
On the other end of the ice, Horvat and Parendo both attempted shots, the first fell off target and the second was once again blocked by the defense. Defenseman Martin was the only Saint to record a shot on goal during this run for the Saints.
The Oles would record another shot on goal before the Saints found themselves short a skater as a result of a tripping penalty of their own.
While on the power play, the Oles only managed to get two shots off, both fell on target but were stopped by Currow.
As soon as the Saints were full strength, they were once again short a skater, following a body-checking penalty.
This time, while on the power play, the Oles attempted five shots in total, but only got two on target, defender Sara Parent (Otsego, Minn./Rogers HS) recorded a block while on the penalty kill. But the Oles' sixth shot managed to beat Currow, securing the Oles' fifth goal.
The second period ended not long after the goal was scored with no shots following.
Third Period
The third period saw a goaltender change for the Saints, the Saints subbed out Currow and replaced her with Makenzie Cole (Cohasset, Minn./Grand Rapids HS).
Gamst and Chapman both recorded shots to start the third period off, the first of the two was blocked by the defense, and the other made it to the net but was stopped by the goaltender.
The Oles, still wanting to extend their lead came back down with possession and rang off three shots, two of which were skillfully stopped by Cole, and the other was wide.
The Saints were then once again one skater short following another body-checking penalty.
While on the power play, the Oles were only able to attempt one shot, that one shot was stopped by Cole.
Just like the second period, the Saints just ended their last penalty kill and immediately got another penalty, this time for cross-checking.
This time, the Oles were able to attempt four total shots, but impressively, three of the four shots were blocked, by Parendo, Blattner, and Lyndi Schubert (Mantorville, Minn./Kasson-Mantorville HS). The fourth shot flew off target.
The Oles power play ended soon thereafter, but the Oles were able to attempt three more shots, this time two of the three were on target and stopped by Cole, preventing any more scoring up to this point in the game.
The Saints replied to the Oles with four shots of their own, Hanley Block (Alexandria, Minn./Alexandria HS) and Morgan Mitchell (Farmington, MN/Farmington HS) both got their shots to the net but were shut down by the goaltender.
The Oles followed up with a strong offensive possession of their own, attempting four shots, and getting all four on target, but Cole did what she always does and stopped all four shots. The Oles attempted a fifth after losing a face off to the Saints, but Parendo was there to block the opportunity.
Taylor Leonard (Mound, Minn./Mound Westonka HS) was able to go down the ice and try her hand at closing the five-goal gap, but her shot went wide.
Following Leonard's shot, the Oles decided to call a timeout late in the third period, at a point in the game where they were up 5-0.
Coming out of the timeout, the Oles got one more shot on target, but that shot only raised goaltender Cole's stat line.
The Saints had another spurt of four shots, this time around, they only managed to get one of the four on target.
That was the end of the Saints offense for the night, as the Oles took the puck down the ice and drained the clock of any time that remained, bringing the game to an end with a final score of 0-5.
Goal tending
Kieley Currow managed the net for forty minutes, in that time, she faced 28 shots and recorded 23 saves, giving her a save percentage of .821.
Makenzie Cole (Cohasset, Minn./Grand Rapids HS) Stood in between the pipes during the third period for the Saints, during that time, she faced ten shots and recorded ten saves, giving her a save percentage of 1.00.
Baylyn Shankman was in the net for all 60 minutes for the Oles, during that time, she faced 16 shots and recorded 16 saves, giving her a save percentage of 1.00.
What's Next
The Saints (4-17-0, 2-12-0 MIAC) will travel south to Saint Peter, Minn. to compete in another MIAC Conference matchup against the Gusties (17-4-0, 12-2-0 MIAC) of Gustavus Adolphus College on Thursday, February 13, puck drop is scheduled for 7 P.M. Following that game, the Saints will be back home on Saturday, February 15 to play the second of their two-game series against Gustavus at Mars Lakeview Arena. Puck drop for the second game is scheduled for 6 P.M.
