ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University women's hockey team overcame a slow start and secured a 3-0 victory over visiting Lawrence University. The win guarantees the team will finish at least seventh in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) standings.
The teams played an even first period with both recording seven shots on goal. Neither found the back of the net and the game remained scoreless during the first intermission.
The Vikings would outshoot the Thunder in the second period, but the home team would break the tie with the only goal of the stanza. In the tenth minute of play sophomore Kailey Mleko lost a faceoff in the offensive zone. Senior Makena Thompson kept the puck in the zone at the point before passing it to Mleko who skated beyond the redline before passing back toward the crease. Sophomore Ellie Warhoftig was waiting to score the goal in the wide-open back side of the net.
Trine would finally outshoot Lawrence in the third period bringing the final total to 26-23 in favor of the home team. The final period deficit translated to a pair of goals that built the lead to 3-0.
The Thunder scored their second goal in the fourth minute of the period. Thompson started the play with a pass up the ice from the defensive end, which caught senior Gabrielle Hicks in stride as she skated into the offensive zone. Hicks fired a shot on net that the Viking goalie was able to turn aside. The rebound stayed in close and Mleko was able to poke it into the back of the net for the goal.
Then in the 14th minute, sophomore Payton Hans came up with a steal in the offensive zone from inside of the far faceoff circle. She quickly curved back toward the net and fired the puck past the goalie for the third goal of the game.
Freshman Casey Frank picked up another shutout victory in net. She finished the game with 23 saves on the way to the win.
The Thunder improve to 9-15-0 overall and 5-10-0 in NCHA play. They will finish off the regular season tomorrow, Saturday, February 18 when they once again host Lawrence. The game is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.