ANGOLA, Ind. -- The Trine University women's hockey team secured a season split with visiting Aurora University with a 3-1 victory in the second half of the weekend's doubleheader. The win was the team's most complete performance of the season with the Spartans never holding a lead in the contest.
The scoring started in the eighth minute of the contest, when freshman Payton Hans (Johnson Creek, Wis.) came up with the puck in the defensive end of the ice and passed it by the defender to senior Brandi Wilson (Fenton, Mich.) who carried it up the ice. Wilson was joined by freshman Kailey Mleko (Hoffman Estates, Ill.) on the attack and the pair executed a perfect 2-on-1 play with Mleko sending the puck home.
The 1-0 lead would hold in large part due to the Trine defense and the effort of freshman Ryleigh Furlong (Lakeville, Minn.) in net. Furlong finished the period with 12 saves holding the potent Spartan attack scoreless through 20 minutes of play.
That offense did finally break through the Thunder defense in the sixth minute of the second period. A turnover in Trine's offensive gave the Aurora penalty kill a chance with just the goalie in the way and they converted to knot the game at one goal.
The Thunder would fare better the next time their powerplay team took the ice. Freshman Abby Martin (Chippewa Falls, Wis.) moved the puck into the zone and passed it to the boards where senior Kirsten Vandenheuvel (Denfield, Ontario) held it long enough for the offensive to set up. She passed it up the boards to sophomore Michelle Byker (Gurnee, Ill.) who waited for the defender to move back to the point before firing it back. Vandenheuvel fired a shot from near the blueline bouncing it off a defender into the net giving the team the 2-1 lead.
Just seconds later after the ensuing faceoff, the Thunder struck again. Mleko came up with the steal in the defensive zone and fired a pass up the ice to Hans who carried it into the zone and passed it off to Wilson. The forward drew the goalie to the right side of the net before passing the puck back to Hans who put the puck into the left side of the net.
The rest of the game would go scoreless on the shoulders of Furlong and the defense. The goalie finished the game with 38 saves and only the lone blemish to her stat card as the team finished with the 3-1 victory.
Trine improves to 5-11-1 overall and 2-5-1 in Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) play following the win. They will hit the road to face St. Norbert College next weekend in another NCHA matchup. The first contest is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 4 at 8 p.m. ET.
