Box Score ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University women's hockey team finished off the weekend sweep of visiting Marian (Wis.) University with a 4-3 victory. The pair of wins on the weekend earns the team six points toward the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) standings.
In a departure from last night's contest, the Thunder dominated the offensive end of the ice in the early part of the contest. Sophomore Kailey Mleko started the scoring for the team. She pulled the puck out of a scrum in the defensive end of the ice before going coast-to-coast and burying the puck in the top part of the net.
The 1-0 lead held for the next seven minutes, when junior Taryn Raisanen intercepted a Sabre clear attempt in the offensive zone. She quickly fired a shot from the point that ricocheted off of classmate Grace Hicks and off of the goalie. The rebound went short and Hicks was able to follow the puck and put it back on net for the goal.
Just a minute later senior Makena Thompson chipped the puck just into the neutral zone from her defensive end. Mleko collected the pass and once again went the length of the ice. This time she put the puck off the far side pipe, bouncing it back into the goal and giving the team a 3-0 lead.
Marian found the back of the net for their first goal in the 15th minute of the period to enter the intermission with a 3-1 score.
The second was quiet until the tenth minute. It was then that senior Grace Canty won a faceoff in the forward end by tying up her opposition over the faceoff dot. Sophomore Payton Hans collected the puck and skated across the face of the goal before putting the puck through the five-hole for the goal.
Marian responded in the 15th minute to make the score 4-2 going into the second intermission. They then did their best in the third period to come up with another goal. In that final stanza they put 19 shots on goal, a game high for either team.
Freshman Casey Frank stood tall in net and turned aside all of the shots until the final minute of the contest. It was then that the opposition pulled their goalie for the extra attacker and finally worked the puck into the back of the net to cut the deficit to one at 4-3. The Thunder held on for the final minute of play to make that score final.
Frank finished the game with 36 saves and another with in her young career.
Trine improves to 2-7-0 overall and 2-4-0 in NCHA play. They will continue their season when they travel to face Hilbert next weekend. The first game of their doubleheader is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday, December 10.
