Posted: Feb 21, 2019

Women’s Hockey NCHA Playoff Preview (CUW at St. Scholastica)

MEQUON, Wis. – This weekend, the Concordia Wisconsin Women's Hockey team (12-10-3 NCHA) begins their 2018-19 Slaats Cup Playoff run. The Falcons enter the tournament as the No. 5 seed, and will travel to Duluth to face off with No. 2 St. Scholastica (18-6-1 NCHA) for a two-game series this weekend. The first game will take place on Friday at 7pm, with the second game on Saturday at 4pm.

Series Information
-Slaats Cup Playoffs - Quarterfinals
-No. 5 Concordia Wisconsin at No. 2 St. Scholastica
-Location: Duluth, Minn.
-Game 1: Friday, February 22, 7pm CST
-Links: Live Video | Live Stats
-Game 2: Saturday, February 23, 4pm CST
-Links: Live Video | Live Stats

If the two games in the series are split or if both end in a tie, a 20-minute minigame is played as a tiebreaker. The minigame will take place following the end of the second game, with only a 15-minute intermission for the ice to be resurfaced. The starting lines are announced, and then a new 20-minute game will begin. If the minigame ends in a tie, the teams will play 20-minute sudden-death overtime periods until there is a winner.

This is the second consecutive year that the Falcons have made the Slaats Cup Playoffs, and the third time in Head Coach Steve Fabiilli's tenure. In Fabiilli's first season as head coach in 2014-15, the Falcons made the Championship game as the No. 5 seed and finished as runner-ups to No. 2 Lake Forest after defeating No. 1 Adrian and No. 4 St. Scholastica. That season was the last that the NCHA utilized a one-game playoff for each round of the Slaats Cup tournament, instituting the current two-game/minigame format the following year.

Entering the playoffs, senior Christina Pattengale (Portage, Mich.) leads the Falcons with 11 wins, 582 saves, and a .915 save percentage. On offense, junior Natasha Wanless (Madison, Wis.) leads the team with 16 goals, placing her second in the conference. Senior Kristen Kennedy (London, Ontario) leads CUW in points at 26, earned through nine goals and team-high 17 assists.

For the Saints, they are led in goal by junior Lexi Thomeczek who has 12 wins on the season to go along with 551 saves and a .948 save percentage. Offensively, senior Alexia Klaas leads the team with 14 goals. Sophomore Rachel Anderson leads the Saints and the NCHA with 38 points and 28 assists on the season.

The series opener on Friday will be the third time this season that the Falcons and Saints have competed, as they previously played a two-game series on January 25 and 26. The Falcons split the series with the Saints, winning the opener 5-2. Maddy Millar (Anchorage, Alaska), Emily Godwin (London, Ontario), Madi Chapman (Rogers, Minn.), Ally Hull (Wasilla, Alaska), and Kennedy all scored in the win, while Pattengale saved 39 shots in goal.

The winner of this quarterfinals series will advance to the semifinal round of the Slaats Cup Playoffs. In the semifinals, the third and second lowest remaining seeded teams will compete in a two-game/minigame series as in the quarterfinal rounds. The highest remaining seed after the quarterfinal round will have a bye to the championship series and face the winner of the semifinal round.