ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University women's hockey team secured the weekend sweep with a second-straight shutout victory. They defeated Hilbert College 8-0, with Payton Hans and Kailey Mleko leading the team with three points apiece. Hans finishes the day with 65 career points, the new program record.
The Thunder opened the scoring in the fifth minute of play. Maisyn Shay won a faceoff in the offensive zone back to Mleko who settled at the top of the circle before firing the puck toward net. The shot deflected off Sydney Streb and into the back of the net for the 1-0 lead.
Ten minutes later the team scored their second goal. Ellie Warhoftig stymied a clear attempt, catching the puck along the far boards. She skated around the corner to behind the net before flipping the puck back to the front of the net. Madison Toor was waiting just outside the crease to score the goal.
The first period of the second went coast to coast. Gabrielle Hicks started with the puck behind the Hawks' net passing it forward to Dorka Gengeliczky who quickly fired another pass diagonally across center ice. That pass found Mleko behind the defense and with a clear path to the goal.
Gengeliczky set up another goal three minutes later, carrying the puck into the offensive zone and behind the net. She threw the puck to the front of the net where it bounced off Emma-Lyn Stephenson and over to Margot Beacom who was ready to poke it by the goalie.
Trine doubled the score in the final period of play, posting four goals in the first 15 minutes. The first goal came just 19 seconds into the stanza. Mleko started the play on the defensive end poking the puck up to Hans who skated the length of the ice and around the back of the net. She fired one shot on net and the rebound ended up on the stick of Hicks who went top shelf on the goalie.
Four minutes later, the Hawks attempted to clear the zone with a diagonal pass to the blueline. Hannah Lambers was there to intercept the pass and carry the puck down the boards. She fired her shot from the bottom of the faceoff circle for the goal.
Three more minutes of play saw Hilbert get one of their eight shots on goal, ending like all the others with a save by Casey Frank. The sophomore settled the puck in front of her where Lambers collected it before passing it up the ice. Hans received it at center ice and skated into the zone, scoring the record-breaking point with a goal.
Hans finished the scoring in the 15th minute. This time it was unassisted, coming after retaking the puck from the defense following her own saved shot. The goal gave the team their final lead of 8-0.
The Thunder improve to 3-11-0 overall following the lopsided victory. The team will continue their season when they travel to Lake Forest, Ill. for a neutral site, non-conference contest against University of Dubuque. The game, which is hosted by Lake Forest College, is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday, December 30.