WINONA, Minn. – The St. Olaf College women's hockey team led 1-0 after one period before Saint Mary's University tallied three second period goals on its way to a 5-2 victory and a series sweep on Saturday afternoon at Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
Sophomore
Solvei Berg-Messerole gave St. Olaf (6-9-0, 0-8-0 MIAC) a one-goal advantage after 20 minutes, but Saint Mary's (10-4-0, 5-3-0 MIAC) scored twice in the first 2:30 of the second to take a lead it would hold onto the rest of the way. For the second day in a row, the Cardinals got goals from five different skaters in a 5-2 win.
Despite being outshot by a 15-4 margin in the opening period, the Oles went into the first intermission with a 1-0 lead thanks to Berg-Messerole's sixth goal of the season. After sophomore
MaKenna Beaver and senior
Lexie Ligday combined to get the puck to Berg-Messerole on the right, the sophomore sent a shot around a Saint Mary's skater and past netminder Celeste Rimstad to end her six-game goal drought.
Saint Mary's responded with quick-fire goals 48 seconds apart early in the second period to take the lead for good. Teagan Phillips tied the game just 1:42 into the period before Sophia Paduano netted the go-ahead goal on the power play at the 2:30 mark. Reese Heitzman added her second goal of the weekend inside the final two minutes of the period to give the hosts a two-goal cushion heading into the third.
After the Cardinals pushed their lead to 4-1 less than two minutes into the third, sophomore
Molly Terebayza got into double figures in goals for the season with a power-play goal midway through the period. Berg-Messerole won a faceoff at the right dot back to Terebayza, who slung a shot through traffic to make it a 4-2 game, but Saint Mary's held on and added a second power-play goal in the final minute.
Saint Mary's outshot St. Olaf by a 31-18 margin in the game, as Rimstad stopped 16-of-18 shots to collect the win. Sophomore
Carley Tuman made 15 of her 26 saves – her second-highest total of the season – in the opening period for the Oles.
St. Olaf hosts the College of St. Scholastica in the series opener on Friday, Jan. 19 at 6 p.m.
