Eleven Falcons tally a point as the Falcon women's hockey team skated to a 4- 2 win against St. Scholastica Friday night at Hunt Arena. It was the first ever meeting between the two teams.
The Falcons got on the board first in a penalty-filled opening period. Jami Weiss (Hermantown, MN, Proctor-Hermantown HS) put the Falcons up 1-0 midway through the period at 11:38 with her third goal of the season with assists from Jamie Briski (Chisholm, MN, Hibbing-Chisholm HS) and Lauren Conrad (Lino Lakes, MN, Centennial HS). There were five minor penalties called in the period with three coming against the Saints.
The second period opened up differently for the Falcons as they skated shorthanded after a Breanne Hrabe (New Prague, MN, New Prague HS) tripping penalty set up a St. Scholastica power play. The Falcon penalty kill negated the Saints' skater advantage when Jessica Thompson (Shoreview, MN, Mounds View HS) connected with Emma Nordness (Excelsior, MN, Benilde-St. Margaret's HS) for a short-handed goal that put the Falcons up 2-0 4:29 into the middle frame. For Nordness, it was her fifth goal of the season and the team's second shorthanded goal of the season. Libby Guzzo cut into the Falcon lead, making it 2-1, seconds after leaving the sin bin at 13:17 for a checking penalty. Guzzo raced out of the box uncontested and beat Falcon goaltender Cassi Campbell (Anchorage, AK, Toronto Rattlers) to cut the deficit to one.
In the final frame, the Falcons struck first. Katie Flanagan (Roseville, MN, Roseville HS) scored her seventh goal of the season to give the Falcons a 3-1 lead just 47 seconds into the period. The Saints answered with a goal of their own at 1:55 into the period from Briana Stephens to cut the Falcon lead to 3-2. Alyssa Black (Mankato, MN, West HS) gave the Falcons an insurance goal late in the third period at 14:31 to increase their lead to 4-2. Katie Batters (Champlin, MN, Champlin Park HS) and Alyssa Jackson (Cambridge, MN, Cambridge-Isanti HS) assisted on Black's third goal of the season.
The Falcons outshot the Saints 20-9 in the first, 17-6 in the second, and 14-4 in the third for a total of 51-19 for the game. The Falcons had four penalties for eight minutes in the box while the Saints had seven penalties for 14 minutes in the box, which included two team penalties in the first period for too many skaters on the ice. The Falcons went 1-7 on the advantage.
Campbell picked up the win for the Falcons and is now 7-0 on the season. She stopped 17 of19 shots in the 59:35 played between the pipes.
Tomorrow the Falcons will host the finale of the two-game series. The puck drops at 2:05 p.m., at Hunt Arena.
Box Score
