GENEVA, Ill. – The Trine University women's hockey team scored first but were ultimately outmatched by nationally-ranked and third-seeded Aurora University, falling to the home team by the score 7-2. The loss moves the team within in one loss of exiting the 2023 Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) Slaats Cup Playoffs.
The Thunder got an early push in the offensive zone, and it paid off as they forced a turnover close to their own goal. Sophomore Payton Hans intercepted an attempted pass out of the zone skating toward the far boards before passing the puck back to the center of the ice. There classmate Kailey Mleko was set up in the slot ready to fire a shot on net. It struck true giving the team a 1-0 lead.
The Spartans responded with a pair of goals of their own, taking their first lead of the day in the 18th minute of the first period. They extended that lead in the second with two more goals and then again in the first ten minutes of the third, putting Trine down 6-1.
With just over eight minutes remaining sophomore Ellie Warhoftig returned to the ice interrupted a pass in the neutral zone. Mleko collected the loose puck near center ice and skated quickly into the offensive zone scoring her second goal of the day and cutting the lead to 6-2.
A final goal for the home side made the score final at 7-2.
The Thunder fall to 10-16-0 following the loss. They will faceoff with Aurora again tomorrow, Saturday, February 25. The team will need a win during the scheduled game and then a win in a mini-game tiebreaker to advance to the second round of the playoffs. Opening faceoff for tomorrow's game is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET.