DE PERE, Wis. -- The Trine University women's hockey team once again turned in a valiant comeback attempt but fell short falling to their hosts from St. Norbert College by the score of 3-2.
The Green Knights struck first in the contest, but not until the second period. A Thunder penalty in the opening seconds of the period gave the home team a woman advantage which they would take advantage of going up 1-0. Then in the 11th minute the team added to that lead with their second goal.
In the 12th minute of play the Thunder took advantage of a power play of their own. After passing the puck through the point and then down to the top of the right faceoff circle, junior Grace Canty (West Bloomfield, Mich.) struck home with a shot making the score 2-1. Freshman Abby Martin (Chippewa Falls, Wis.) and sophomore Taryn Raisanen (White Lake, Mich.) were credited with assists on the goal.
St. Norbert made the lead two again in the sixth minute of the third period, and it took over ten minutes for Trine to respond. Once again the goal came on a power play opportunity for the Thudner. Junior Gabrielle Hicks (Layton, Utah) passed the puck to the point from the top of the right faceoff circle. From their senior Kirsten Vandenheuvel (Denfield, Ontario) carried it to the left and fired a shot into the mess of players in front of the net. Freshman Kailey Mleko (Hoffman Estates, Ill.) was one of those players and deflected the puck home.
The Green Knights played lock out defense through the final three minutes of the contest, even keeping the Thunder from pulling their goalkeeper until the final twenty seconds of the game, and the game would go final at 3-2.
Trine falls to 5-13-1 overall and 2-7-1 in Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) play following the loss. They will return home to host Lake Forest College next weekend. The first game is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 11 at 7 p.m.