Box Score The 7th ranked UWRF women's hockey team defeated the Concordia-Moorhead College Cobbers, 2-1, on Saturday afternoon in Moorhead, Minn. The Falcons swept the weekend series, outscoring the Cobbers 5-1 in two games.
"The weekend had two hard fought games," said Falcon Coach
Joe Cranston. "Concordia played very hard and physical - they clogged up the middle and did what they had to do to stay with us. We played two solid defensive games and found a way to win. It was nice to give up only one goal in the two games."
The game entered the second period scoreless, despite the Falcons outshooting the Cobbers 14-2 in the first period. Senior forward's
Katie Batters and
Brook Story led the charge with three shots each in the first. Cobbers sophomore goaltender Madison Denny (1-6-3) kept her cool throughout the first frame, holding the Falcons in check. Falcons sophomore goaltender
Gillian McDonald (3-1) was only asked to make two first period saves in her fourth start of the season.
The Cobbers began to find an offensive rhythm early in the second period. Cobbers sophomore forward Anna Westmark rang a wrist shot off the pipe, and McDonald had to make three consecutive saves to keep the score 0-0.
Moments later, Falcons sophomore forward
Chloe Kinsel made the Cobbers pay with her eighth goal of the season at 6:41 of the second period. She followed her own rebound and smacked the puck past Denny for the game's first goal. Batters earned the lone assist on the goal, her eighth of the season. Batters' assist ties her with Story and freshman defenseman
Paige Johnson for the team lead, and also pushes her team-leading point total to 19.
Freshman forward
Karleigh Wolkerstorfer nearly pushed the lead to 2-0 when she had back-to-back opportunities to the right of Denny that nearly found twine. Freshman forward
Dani Sibley was also active in the second frame as she was turned aside twice by Denny in the slot.
The Falcons had to kill a late second period power play to keep the score 1-0. The tenacious Falcons defense held the Cobbers offense from registering a shot on goal and won both faceoffs on the kill. In fact, Kinsel nearly slapped home a shorthanded goal, but Denny made the pad save.
The second period ended with a 1-0 Falcons lead. The shots ended 8-7, in favor of the Falcons. Kinsel had three shots and the lone goal in the period; Wolkerstorfer and Sibley both had two shots on goal. McDonald and Denny collectively were the reason for the low-scoring affair.
Denny stood tall in the third period, making four consecutive saves from close range early in the period. Batters, junior defenseman
Sam Greeley and freshman forward
Hayley Walsh were all turned aside by Denny.
Denny was pulled with 1:19 left in the contest and senior forward
Kait Mason made the Cobbers pay with an empty netted goal at the 19:18 mark of the third period. Mason's unassisted goal was her sixth of the season, and turned out to be the eventual game-winner.
The Cobbers answered with eight seconds left in the game to cut the lead in half, but it was too little, too late. Denny was pulled once again and the extra attacker goal was scored by freshman defenseman Natasha Skala, her first career goal. The late goal spoiled McDonald's chance at her first shutout of the season. The assists were credited to freshman forward Ellen Rethwisch and senior forward Brittany Oliver.
Final shots on goal were 30-12, in favor of UWRF. Kinsel, Batters and Sibley led the way with four shots each. McDonald finished with 11 saves in her third win of the season. Denny made 28 saves in the loss. The Falcons won 25 of 41 faceoffs, good for 61 percent. Both teams finished 0-2 on the power play.
The Falcons improved to 10-3-2 overall on the season and 8-2 on the road. They are now 3-2 all-time against the Cobbers and have won four straight.
Concordia-Moorhead fell to 2-8-3 overall and 1-6-1 at home. They have lost two straight, both loses coming against UWRF.
The Falcons play host to the College of St. Scholastica Saints next Friday at Hunt Arena; the puck drops at 2:05 p.m.
Box Score
