NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College women's hockey team completed an opening-weekend sweep of UW-Stevens Point with a 4-3 come-from-behind victory on Senior Day on Saturday afternoon at St. Olaf Ice Arena.
After claiming a 1-0 win the night before to open the season, St. Olaf (2-0-0) fell in a 2-0 hole to UW-Stevens Point (0-2-0) midway through the first period but rallied to tie the game at 2-2 midway through the second. The Pointers got the next goal to go ahead once more, but the Oles scored the final two goals of the game, including the game-winner from sophomore
MaKenna Beaver early in the third, to finish off another one-goal victory.
Before the game, St. Olaf honored its five-member senior class of
Zephryn Jager,
Lexie Ligday,
Mia Jutz, and
Sierra Moore, as well as student manager
Ava Miller, for their efforts and dedication to the program over their careers.
Beaver had the first multi-point game of her collegiate career by picking up an assist in addition to scoring the game-winning goal. Sophomores
Solvei Berg-Messerole and
Molly Terebayza combined for five assists, with Berg-Messerole tallying three and Terebayza two.
UW-Stevens Point jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first 10-plus minutes of the game on goals by Annika Horman and Courtney Leising. Four minutes after Leising's goal gave the Pointers a 2-0 advantage, junior
Iona Welsch got the Oles on the board with a power-play goal by tipping in a shot by Ligday for her first goal of the young season.
After scoring the lone goal of the game on her St. Olaf debut the night before, junior
Rachel Wieland tied the game at 2-2 at the 8:25 mark of the second period by chipping in the puck home on a loose puck after a shot by Berg-Messerole. The Pointers responded with an unassisted goal by Sara Aadalen less than three minutes later, however, to reclaim the lead.
The lead lasted just 66 seconds, however, as first year
Andi Huselid netted her first collegiate just over a minute later by putting in a rebound off a shot by Terebayza after Berg-Messerole found Terebayza open near the left post. Beaver broke the 2-2 tie at the 1:28 mark of the third period by dancing past a pair of UW-Stevens Point defenders while driving in from the left before scoring on the backhand.
St. Olaf outshot UW-Stevens Point by a 38-17 margin in the win. Sophomore
Hannah Fritz made 14 saves to collect the victory, while Anne Beck had double-digit saves in each period and finished with 34 for the Pointers.
The Oles head to Ashland, Wis. for a pair of games against Northland College on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 3-4. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. on Friday evening and 2 p.m. on Saturday afternoon at Bay Area Civic Center.
