Falcons Take Victory Over Vikings

MEQUON, Wis. – The CUW women's hockey team returned to the win column Friday night, taking down the Vikings of Lawrence 6-3 in game one of their weekend series. 

With the win, the Falcons improved to 2-5-0 overall and 2-3-0 in Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) conference action. 

Lawrence struck first, scoring their first goal on a breakaway to take the 1-0 advantage with 15:38 left in the period. 

But with 2:14 left in the first period, junior Brooke Gibson (La Salle, Ont.) connected with freshman Naomi Black (Ottawa, Ont.) with a pass that slipped through a pair of Lawrence defenders' sticks. With the puck near the net, Noami Black redirected the pass past Vikings' goaltender, finding the back of the net to make it 1-1.  

The score would remain 1-1 for the remainder of the first.  

The second period saw a frenzy of scoring, with CUW kicking it off. Senior Natalia Etter (Boveresse, Switzerland) moved the puck up to sophomore Makayla Spejcher (Green Bay, Wis.), who, on the break, found a charging Amanda Bauer just outside the crease. Near the goal, Bauer put a stick to the puck and scored to give CUW the 2-1 lead with 10:03 remaining in the period. 

One minute and 10 seconds later, the Falcons added to their lead as Naomi Black stole the puck behind the net and found an open freshman in Ella Tuccitto (Inver Groves Heights, Minn.), who would rip a shot past the Viking's goaltender. 

The third Falcons' goal of the quarter came from another breakaway. It featured sharp passing from Naomi Black to Brooke Gibson and Gibson to Ella Tuccitto. With no one in front of her, Tuccitto slid her shot past the goalie, finding the back of the net to take the 4-1 lead with 5:32 left in the period.

But the Vikings remained resilient, responding with two goals to cut CUW's lead to 4-3 heading into the second intermission. 

Out of the break, just 32 seconds into the period, the Falcons' duo of Ella Tuccitto and Naomi Black continued their excellent performance, as it was Tuccitto who found Black open for her second goal of the night, as CUW reestablished their two-goal margin.

The final goal for CUW came on the power play, as Mackaylan McGown and Makayla Spejcher connected on a give-and-go, resulting in McGown scoring the goal to secure the 6-3 victory. 

In her first collegiate appearance, freshman goaltender Carolyn Bourgeault (Buffalo, N.Y.) recorded her first win and had 24 saves. 

Meanwhile, fellow freshmen Noami Black and Ella Tuccitto both had two goals. Black also had two assists, while Tuccitto recorded one. Brooke Gibson and Makayla Spejcher also had two assists in the win. 

Women's hockey will now look to make it two straight against Lawrence as they head north to Appleton to take on the Vikings, with the puck drop slated for 3 p.m.