Women’s Hockey fights to a draw against Hamline

MEQUON, Wis. - The Concordia University Wisconsin women's hockey team fought to a 3-3 tie against Hamline University (Minn.) on Saturday afternoon, in what was a closely contested, back-and-forth affair at the Ozaukee Ice Center.

In a game that featured three lead changes and plenty of action in both offensive zones, junior Sara Cole (Plymouth, Minn.) scored the game's final goal with 45 seconds remaining in regulation to give the Falcons the draw.

CUW (6-5-1, 4-3-0 NCHA) also got goals from seniors Bradi Jonasson (Bloomington, Minn.) and Alyssa Isaackson (Marshall, Minn.), as well as 36 saves from freshman goalie Jennifer DeGeorge (Waukesha, Wis.), who was making her first start of the season.

The Falcons fell behind early, after Hamline's Corinne Henning scored with just over seven minutes gone in the first period.

But only two minutes later, Concordia got back on level terms when Issackson scored her team-leading 8th goal of the season off a pass from fellow senior Hilary Christiansen (Eagan, Minn.).

Early in the second period, CUW got their first lead of the game when Jonasson received a pass from freshman Bailey Rasmussen (Grand Rapids, Minn.) and fired a shot from the slot that beat Pipers goalie Sarah Schneekloth.

But Hamline would tie the game later in the second period with a power play goal from Erin Kastner, and took a 3-2 lead midway through the third period with a Jordan Vereye goal.

The final minutes of the third period proved to be the deciding factor, however, after two Pipers penalties in under 40 seconds gave the Falcons a 5-on-3 power play with under two minutes to go.

With a minute left in the game, head coach Jim Ingman pulled DeGeorge for an extra attacker, and the move paid off.

The three-man advantage allowed CUW to create all kinds of traffic in front of Schneekloth, and Cole crashed the net to poke the puck home just inside the left post to even the score at 3-3.

A five-minute overtime period followed, and although no goals were scored, DeGeorge came up with 10 huge saves to preserve the result for the Falcons.

CUW will now have a week of practice before traveling to Adrian College next weekend for two games against the Bulldogs.