Katie Batters (Champlin, MN, Champlin Park HS) scored her fifth and sixth goals of the season for the No. 7 women's hockey team as the Falcons overcame St. Norbert 3-2 Friday night at Hunt Arena.

Batters made sure her presence was known on the ice. Her goal at the 18:02 mark of the first period gave the Falcons the 1-0 lead.  She was assisted by Darion Bruyere (Sagkeeng First Nation, MAN, Pursuit of Excellence Hockey Academy).  It was Bruyere's first assist in a Falcon uniform.

But that lead didn't last for long as the Green Knights would tie the game just 23 seconds later on a goal by Tara Frey, her first goal of the season for the 4-7 Green Knights.

The second period saw little action as the two teams traded shots and penalties.  Each team would account for two penalties in the period, but neither team could capitalize on the power play opportunities. St. Norbert was 0-4 throughout the game, the Falcons, 0-5. However, Alyssa Black (Mankato, MN, West HS) would put the Falcons back in control with a little over 2:30 minutes to play in the period. She connected for her fifth goal of the season with the help of teammate Alyssa Jackson (Cambridge, MN, Cambridge-Isanti HS) on the assist.

The Falcons would enter the third period with the 2-1 lead, but St. Norbert was not done yet.  With less than 6:30 minutes to play in the game, Henriette Ostergaard slipped one by Falcon goaltender Melissa Deardorff (Anchorage, AK, Anchorage North Stars) to tie the game at two.  It was Ostergaard's first goal of the season. 

But the Falcons were not ready to play their second consecutive game in overtime.  At 16:45 in the third period, Batters would put her exclamation point on the game by connecting on her second goal of the night on what proved to be the game-winner. This gave the Falcons the 3-2 lead.  Brook Story (Warroad, MN, Warroad HS) and Bruyere assisted on the play.  It was Bruyere's second assist of the night.  The Falcons last game saw a 1-1 overtime stalemate to rival Gustavus on Dec. 6.

Batters is now tied with Alice Cranston (River Falls, WI, St. Croix Valley HS) for the most goals so far this season with six.

Deardorff would finish the game with 17 saves, including eight in the third period.  She is now 5-1 on the season.  St. Norbert's goalie, Katie Aluia, had a much tougher night.  She made 30 saves as the Falcons poured on 33 shots throughout the game.  Batters led the Falcons with four shots.  She connected on two of them.  The Falcons were able to spread the puck around, as five different Falcons would fire three shots apiece.  Fifteen Falcons would fire at least one shot throughout the game.

“Our first period was probably the worst we've played in the past two years,” said Falcon Coach Joe Cranston after the game. “We had to turn things around and that was hard. The second period was better, but still pretty sloppy.”

“It was nice to see us battle back in the third. We took the lead, but then made another mistake that cost us a goal that tied the game. But in the end we were able to get the win," said Cranston.

With the win, the Falcons improve to 9-1-1 and 8-1-0 in the NCHA.  St. Norbert falls to 4-7 overall and 3-5 in NCHA play.

The Falcons will go for the sweep at 2:05 Saturday at Hunt Arena.  The Falcons are 3-0-2 all time against the Green Knights.

Box Score