Spartans Rally to Sink Women's Hockey

GENEVA, Ill. – The Falcons were unable to hold onto the lead on Friday afternoon and fell to the Spartans on Aurora, 5-2. The loss sends CUW to 10-6-1 and 5-4-0 in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association.

Both teams posted a scoreless first period on Friday evening. Senior Annalina Van Hercke (Castle Rock, Colo.) collected 17 saves in the period.

Sophomore Natalie Mackrell (Stuttgart, Germany) started the scoring when she tapped in a rebound of a freshman Makayla Spejcher (Green Bay, Wis.) shot with sophomore Amanda Bauer (Waunakee, Wis.) adding the secondary assist.

Moments later, the puck deflected off the stick of Makayla Spejcher, sophomore Brooke Gibson (LaSalle, Ont.) found Natalie Mackrell on the far side of the net and Mackrell smacked the puck in.

The Spartans tied the game with two goals to finish the second period.

The Black and Blue won the third period with three goals, including one on an empty net in the final frame.

Aurora held onto a 52-33 advantage in shots on Friday afternoon.

Makayla Spejcher led the CUW attack with seven shots.

CUW went two for nine on power play opportunities in the evening.

Brooke Gibson dominated in the faceoff circle with 16 victories.

Annalina Van Hercke posted 47 saves against the Spartans.

The Falcons look to level the weekend series on Saturday night.