The Falcon women remain unbeaten after defeating the always-competitive Pointers of UW- Stevens Point in an away game on Friday night by a score of 5-2.
In net for the Falcons was senior and veteran goaltender Melissa Deardorff (Anchorage, AK, Anchorage North Stars) Deardorff has been switching off starts with teammate Ashley Kuechle (Saskatoon, SASK, Battleford Sharks), both of whom have helped the Falcons to their early 5-0-0 start on the season.
Scoring the first goal of the evening was Katie Flanagan (Roseville, MN, Roseville HS) at 10:06 in the first period. Flanagan was assisted by Jami Weiss (Hermantown, MN, Proctor-Hermantown HS) and Kendal Evenson (Roseville, MN, Roseville HS).
Alice Cranston (River Falls, WI, St. Croix Valley HS) extended the Falcon lead to 2, a lead that would not diminish for the entire game, at 14:56. Cranston was unassisted, and the goal came on a short-handed opportunity following a slashing call on Weiss.
Megan Nickelson tallied the first score of the night for the Pointers at 16:10. The score came on a power play chance when Allie Olson (Monticello, MN, North Wright County HS) was sent to the penalty box for elbowing. Assisting Nickelson on the goal was teammates Ava Plamondon and Erin Marvin.
The Falcon women shut out the Pointers for the entirety of the second period with several great defensive stands. On top of the stellar defensive performance, the Falcons were also able to net a score.
The goal came on the stick of Weiss at 7:57. Assisting Weiss on the third Falcon score of the night was Crysta Lowell (White Bear Lake, MN, White Bear Lake HS).
Falcon Head Coach Joe Cranston has this to say about the impressive second period performance: “We had our best period of the year in the second period tonight.” Also, “It was great to see how well we played both offensively and defensively in that period.”
The third period went scoreless up until 9:23 when Bre Drude (North St. Paul, MN, North St. Paul HS) was able to hit the back of the net. Drude was assisted by Falcon Captain and senior presence Emma Nordness (Excelsior, MN, Benilde-St. Margaret's HS) as well as Olson.
The Falcons were not done pouring it on however, as Amanda Ryder (Menomonie, WI, Minnesota Thoroughbreds) hit her first goal of the season at 11:52. Ryder, an extremely talented defensive athlete missed almost the entire 2010-11 season due to injury. Ryder has returned to the Falcons with a vengeance, and was assisted by Nordness and Flanagan.
Darion Bruyere (Sagkeeng First Nation, MAN, Pursuit of Excellence Hockey Academy) received the lone penalty of the third period, checking, at 15:46. The penalty proved to be crucial as the Pointers were able to capitalize on the power play opportunity as Cassandra Salmen went on to score at 16:27. However the Falcon lead proved to be insurmountable for the Pointers, as River Falls closed out the remainder of the game.
The Falcons outshot the Pointers 19-16 throughout the game, and extend their unbeaten record to 5-0-0.
According to Coach Cranston in an interview following the game, “Stevens Point is always a tough place to play. They are a tough team to play against and especially since we have such a young team it was great to see us play so well.”
The Falcon women will look to extend their unbeaten record and play their next game at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow night. The matchup is part of a two game weekend series in Stevens Point.
