University of St. Thomas Athletics
8-6-2, 7-1-2MIAC
Hamline
3-12-2, 1-7-2MIAC
Big third period sends women's hockey to win
1/24/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
ST. PAUL – Tied 2-2 after two full periods of play, the St. Thomas women's hockey team scored three unanswered goals in the third period to take a 5-2 win over Hamline University Saturday night at Oscar Johnson Arena. The win gave the Tommies a sweep of the Pipers on the weekend and improves their record to 8-6-2 overall and 7-1-2 in the MIAC, while Hamline is now 3-12-2 overall and 1-7-2 in league play. UST maintains sole possession of second place in the conference standings with 16 points.
One night after an offensive explosion, it appeared the Tommies were in store for a similar script on Saturday night when Rachel Friberg scored the game's first goal just 2:46 after the opening faceoff. Friberg received assists from Hannah Bird and Tori Bailey to score her seventh goal of the season and give UST the early 1-0 lead.
However, Hamline was up to the challenge and came back to score back-to-back goals just a minute apart to take a 2-1 lead. Jessica Goldberg scored at 4:50 of the period before Haleigh Botton followed with a goal at 5:53.
The two teams skated without a goal for the next 12 minutes, as it appeared the Pipers would go to the first intermission with the one-goal lead. But Paige Baldwin had other plans. The senior found the back of the net inside the final three minutes of the period to tie the game at two apiece. Hannah Burns and Karina Marette assisted on the goal and sent the two teams to the locker room for the first intermission.
Although the Tommies outshot the Pipers 12-4 in the second period, the score remained 2-2 headed to the third, as neither team was able to find the back of the net in the frame.
The third period proved to be all St. Thomas, as the Tommies scored three goals and held Hamline scoreless in the final 20 minutes.
Courtney Umland starting things off at 4:19 of the period with her sixth goal of the year. Umland received an assist from Heidi Winiecki on the goal, which gave the Tommies a 3-2 lead and would prove to be the final lead change of the evening.
Maddie McGlade followed with a goal four minutes later thanks to assists from Marette and Baldwin. She later finished off the game's scoring with a power play goal at 16:57 with an assist from Megan Juricko. The goal put the finishing touches on the win for St. Thomas with the final score of 5-2.
UST outshot Hamline 46-16 on the night and was 1-for-6 on the power play, compared to 0-for-3 for the Pipers.
Tommie goaltender Paige Kittelson made 14 saves in the win, and improves to 4-2-2 on the year. Hamline netminder Katie Beckman tallied 41 saves in the losing effort, and drops to 1-5-1.
St. Thomas will be back in action on Wednesday night when the Tommies host UW-River Falls at St. Thomas Ice Arena for a mid-season non-conference match up. That game is set for a 7:30 p.m., puck drop.
