WINONA, Minn. (Blugolds.com) – The UW-Eau Claire women's hockey team battled back to a weekend split with nonconference opponent St. Mary's University as it won 3-1 Saturday afternoon.
The Blugolds got things started scoring the first goal of the afternoon. Abbie Hawthorne (Jr.-Brookfield, Wis./Central) found the back of the net at 15:36 on a pass from Emily Haluska (Jr.-Stevens Point, Wis./SPASH). With less than two minutes left in the first period, the Cardinals took away the Blugolds lead as they evened up the game at 1-1 at 18:42.
Toni Simones (Sr.-Rosemount, Minn./South St. Paul) came out in the second period and scored the game winning goal for the Blugolds at 6:40 from a pass from Dani Kerr (Jr.-Little Canada, Minn./Roseville) and Nikki Kothenbeutel (So.-Sauk Rapids, Minn/Sauk Rapids-Rice). In an effort to increase the scoring possibilities, the Cardinals pulled their goalie. However, it did not work out the way they hoped as Katie Ward (Jr.-Andover, Minn./Coon Rapids) would get the puck in on the empty net with 1:41 remaining in the game.
Morgan Pieper (Sr.-Williams, Minn./Warroad) got the win for the Blugolds. She stopped 24 Cardinal shots and improved to 3-5-2 on the year.
The Blugolds return home to Hobbs Ice Center Wednesday for a nonconference matchup against St. Thomas. Game action starts at 7 p.m.
-AD-
