NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Sophomore
Iona Welsch scored 1:05 into overtime to send the St. Olaf College women's hockey team to the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs with a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over the College of Saint Benedict on Friday night at St. Olaf Ice Arena.
After trailing Saint Ben's (12-10-0, 8-6-0 MIAC) by a 2-0 margin after two periods, St. Olaf (14-6-2, 10-4-1 MIAC) got third-period goals from first year
Molly Terebayza and sophomore
Grace Lankas to send the game to overtime. In the extra session, Welsch scored unassisted at the 1:05 mark to complete the comeback and send the Oles back to the MIAC Playoffs for the first time since 2012 under the five-team format.
The playoff berth is the second in a row for St. Olaf, although last season's appearance came in a season where all of the teams qualified for the postseason due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Oles will make their 10th all-time appearance in the MIAC Playoffs later this month and remain in contention for the No. 2 seed, trailing Augsburg University by one point still after the Auggies also picked up an overtime victory on Friday night.
Saint Ben's limited St. Olaf to just six shots on goal over the first two periods and scored once in each period to build a 2-0 lead after two. Emily Lemker opened the scoring by poking the puck home from the inner edge of the right circle at 11:02 of the first period after benefitting from a carom off the side wall. Aurora Opsahl doubled the Bennies' lead at 5:24 of the second by firing the puck in off the underside of the crossbar off an assist from Jenna Timm.
After going 0-for-3 on the power play in the first two periods, St. Olaf struck quickly on the power play early in the third, as Terebayza lifted the puck in from close range after the puck was loose in front following a shot by Lankas. Down by a goal, the Oles nearly tied it midway through the period when fifth-year senior
Annika Patterson set up Berg-Messerole in front while St. Olaf was shorthanded, but Ally Frantzick made the save to preserve the CSB lead.
Inside the final five minutes of regulation, St. Olaf found a game-tying goal on Lankas' fourth goal of the season, as the sophomore scored on the backhand after Berg-Messerole flipped the puck to Lankas. Berg-Messerole's two assists raised her team-leading point total to 26 in 22 games, while Lankas' two-point night gave her 21 points this season.
St. Olaf was whistled for a minor penalty with 1:02 remaining in regulation, but the Saint Ben's power play was cut short when the Bennies committed a body-checking penalty just 27 seconds later. After Patterson's penalty expired 58 seconds into overtime, the Oles capitalized on the power play for the second time in the game, as Welsch forced a turnover along the left boards in the offensive zone, drove to the net, and lifted the puck in for her fourth game-winning goal of the season.
First year
Hannah Fritz collected her 11th victory of the season with a 22-save evening. The 11 wins gave Fritz sole possession of second on St. Olaf's single-season wins list. Frantzick made 18 saves, including 12 in the third period, for the Bennies, who remain fourth in the MIAC standings with three games left.
The two teams complete their series on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 4 p.m. at Ritschie Arena in St. Cloud.
