Women's Hockey Rallies to Tie Stevens Point

STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The Concordia Wisconsin women's hockey team fought until the very end in the regular season finale on Tuesday night. The Falcons rallied to skate to a 4-4 tie and finish the regular season at 11-11-3.

The Pointers secured an early lead with a pair of goals in the first period.

Sophomore Makayla Spejcher (Green Bay, Wis.) blasted a laser past the netminder 35 seconds into the second period from the far circle off a pass from junior Brooke Gibson (LaSalle, Ont.) to cut into the deficit.

The Purple and Gold struck again with a pair of goals to take a 4-1 advantage.

The Falcons did not fold and cut into the deficit late in the second period.

Freshman Mackaylan McGown (Inver Grove, Minn.) redirected a shot from freshman Ava Litkey (Kenosha, Wis.) off a secondary assist from Amanda Bauer with 75 seconds left in the second period to start the comeback.

The Falcons were able to take advantage of a five-on-three power play with a goal 23 seconds into the third period when Mackaylan McGown tapped in a rebound off a shot from junior Amanda Bauer (Waunakee, Wis.) that was pushed forward by Makayla Spejcher.

Four minutes later, the Falcons tied the game when they charged down the ice and Makayla Spejcher danced past the defender and scored from the far circle off passes from Brooke Gibson and junior Megan Vettraino (Howell, Mich.).

The Pointers did not fade into the darkness, but rather they peppered the Concordia net. Junior Kami McCardle (Jackson, Wis.) was up to the task and stopped all 15 shots in the third period and the 5-0 shot margin in the overtime session to preserve the tie.

For the second time this year, the two teams went to a shootout, with the teams tying the January shootout, 1-1. The Pointers took an early lead with a goal in round one. Makayla Spejcher tied the shootout in round two. Kami McCardle notched a kick save in round three to secure at least a tie and Amanda Bauer remained perfect against the Pointers with a goal in round three to earn the shootout victory.  

The Pointers nearly doubled up the Falcons in shots with a 49-25 advantage on Tuesday.

Kami McCardle finished with a career-high 45 saves in the tie.

Makayla Spejcher and Brooke Gibson both led the flock with five shots.

The Falcons dominated the faceoff circle with a 67.6 success rate. Mackaylan McGown won 20 of her 31 faceoffs, Brooke Gibson won 18 of her 28, Megan Vettraino won nine of her 10 and junior Natalie Mackrell (Stuttgart, Germany) won her lone faceoff.  

Concordia Wisconsin did not have a penalty in the game. It is the first time that the Falcons have not had a penalty in a game since an April 4, 2018 game at Marian.

The Falcons will begin postseason play in the Slaats Cup Quarterfinals on Feb. 16 at either Lake Forest or Aurora.