NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College women's hockey team rallied from 2-0 down late in the second period to salvage a 2-2 tie against non-conference foe Northland College in the series finale between the two teams on Senior Day on Saturday afternoon at St. Olaf Ice Arena.
After picking up a 5-1 win the night before, St. Olaf (2-1-1) fell behind after Sydney Kanstrup scored once in each of the first two periods for Northland (0-2-1). The Oles, however, got a pair of power-play goals from sophomores
Iona Welsch and
Sophie McBane to force the tie. The LumberJills went on to win the best-of-three shootout, 1-0, as Kyleigh Moffatt was the lone shooter to score.
Prior to the game, St. Olaf celebrated its six-member senior class of
Samantha Martin,
Madeline Gag,
Annika Patterson,
Makenzie Booth,
Maddie Anderson, and
Chloe LaFond, as well as their parents, on the ice.
Kanstrup lit the lamp at 6:56 of the opening period and 14:06 of the second period to give Northland the 2-0 lead, but Welsch got St. Olaf within a goal at the second intermission inside the final minute of the middle period. After sophomore
Grace Lankas fired a shot from outside the circles, Welsch corralled the puck and scored on a wrap-around for her first goal of the season and the sixth of her career.
The Lumberjills hung onto the 2-1 lead until McBane forced the puck in from in close on the power play at 12:29 off assists from Lankas and sophomore
Lauren Spear. Lankas' two assists raised her total to five assists in four games this season, as the sophomore has picked up at least one assist in all four of St. Olaf's games thus far.
After McBane's goal, the Oles went back to the power play at the 13:19 mark but could not convert. The LumberJills started the 3-on-3 overtime period with 1:47 of power play time of their own but committed a minor penalty 1:01 into the extra session to negate part of the advantage as the game went to a shootout.
St. Olaf held a commanding 50-14 lead in shots on goal in the game, but Sky Hughes made 48 saves on the afternoon for Northland. The Oles were 2-for-4 on the power play to finish the weekend 5-for-8 with the skater advantage and killed off both of the LumberJills' power-play opportunities.
Next weekend, St. Olaf takes on Bethel University in MIAC play, starting with a 7 p.m. matchup at St. Olaf Ice Arena on Friday, Nov. 11.
