Falcons Soar Victoriously Past the Vikings

MEQUON, Wis. – The Falcons were firing on all cylinders on Friday night inside the Ozaukee Ice Center on offense, defense, and special teams. The Falcons secured a spot in the Slaats Cup Playoffs with a 7-0 victory over Lawrence. The Falcons soar to 14-5-1 on the year and earned three points to move to 28 points in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association at 9-3-1.

The Falcons blitzed the Vikings with three goals in a 70-second stretch.

Freshman Scout Stromberg (Tomahawk, Wis.) started the scoring from the right circle with a shot through traffic off assists from sophomore Naomi Black (Ottawa, Ontario) and sophomore Brenna-Grace Dittmer (Chatham-Kent, Ontario).

Eight seconds later, senior Natalie Mackrell (Florissant, Colo.) raced down the ice and scored off a pass from junior Makayla Spejcher (Green Bay, Wis.) and a faceoff win from senior Brooke Gibson (LaSalle, Ontario) playing in her 100^th game as a Falcon.

CUW lit the lamp 60 seconds later when freshman Sophia Whiteaker (Normal, Ill.) scored with a shot that crushed the water bottle off a feed from senior Savannah Hutchins (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) and a secondary assist from junior Kaitlyn Hansen (Chisago, Minn.).

The fourth goal of the period came with exactly four minutes left when Makayla Spejcher led a charge with Brooke Gibson and senior Amanda Bauer (Waunakee, Wis.) and snuck the puck into the top of the net off assists from sophomore Chanler Taylor (Bloomington, Ill.) and freshman Gabby Cicirello (Mequon, Wis.).

Sophomore Mackaylan McGown (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) scored 19 seconds into the second period off a pass from Amanda Bauer.

Natalie Mackrell scored in the final minute of the period on a rebound off a shot from Naomi Black through the five-hole on the power play and a secondary pass from sophomore Ava Litkey (Kenosha, Wis.).

Sophia Whiteaker closed the scoring in the third period after she snuck past the defender off assists from freshman Taylor Heleniak (Mercer, Wis.) and senior Olivia Kurtz (Plainfield, Ill.).

The Vikings had some opportunities late with two power plays but CUW shut the Vikings down.

Concordia dominated the faceoff circle with 46 victories on 63 draws. Mackaylan McGown won 14 of her 18 and Brooke Gibson won 13 of her 18.

The Falcons held a 53-11 margin in shots on Friday.

Sophomore Carolyn Bourgeault (Buffalo, N.Y.) boasted another clean sheet with 11 saves in the victory, for her second complete-game shutout of the year.

The Falcons go for the weekend sweep on Saturday.