Women's Hockey opens Slaats Cup Playoffs at St. Scholastica

DULUTH, Minn. – The Concordia University Wisconsin Women's Hockey team is back in the Slaats Cup Playoffs for the first time since the 2014-15 season and will begin its run this weekend against St. Scholastica. CUWFalcons.com gets you ready for the weekend series with the Saints.

FORMAT: The opening round of the Slaats Cup Playoffs will follow the two games (plus mini-game if necessary) format. The Falcons and Saints will play Friday and Saturday night and if they split the first two games they would play a mini-game following Saturday's contest.

This weekend features three series as top-seeded Adrian will face Marian and Lake Forest will battle St. Norbert. Three teams advance to next weekend where the top remaining seed will host and receive a bye to the finals. The other two teams will meet in the semifinals with the winner advancing to face next weekend's host in the championship.

PLAYOFF HISTORY: The Falcons are returning to the playoffs for the first time since the 2014-15 season. During 2014-15, CUW went on a magical run to the Slaats Cup Final, securing road wins over St. Scholastica and No. 4 Adrian. Lake Forest ended the Falcons season in the finals with a goal in the final seconds.

Overall, this is the Falcons sixth postseason appearance. CUW has a 3-7 record all-time in playoffs which included a trip to the semifinals in 2010-11. The Falcons split a series with UW-Eau Claire in 2010-11 but won the only mini-game in program history to reach the semifinals.

AGAINST THE SAINTS: The Falcons dropped a pair of games against St. Scholastica on January 19-20 in Duluth. The Saints scored three third-period goals for a 5-2 win in the first contest and posted a 4-1 victory in game two. The Falcons are 4-11-6 all-time against St. Scholastica. CUW won the only postseason meeting between the two programs, a 2-1 victory in the opening round of the 2014-15 playoffs.

TEAM LEADERS
Points: Lexi Holman (CUW) – 26; Abby Sawyer (CSS) – 26
Goals: Holman – 14; Sawyer – 17
Assists: Kristen Kennedy (CUW) – 16; Kaleigh Hamann (CSS) – 15
PIM: Kennedy – 42; Greta Nundahl (CSS) – 20
Game-winning Goals: Natasha Wanless (CUW) - 3; Emily Stegora (CSS) - 5
Power Play Goals: Holman – 6; Stegora – 5
Shorthanded Goals: Holman/Jossa Danis (CUW) – 1; Stegora – 2
Saves: Christina Pattengale (CUW) – 369; Lexi Thomeczek (CSS) – 480
Goals Against Average: Breanna Thomson (CUW) 1.78; Lori Huseby (CSS) – 2.27
Save Percentage: Thomson - .940; Thomeczek - .930
Wins: Thomson – 8; Thomeczek – 9