Posted: Dec 02, 2012
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) — After a one goal win Saturday afternoon against St. Norbert, the UW-Eau Claire women's hockey team did it again, this time in overtime, capping off a 3-2 victory at Hobbs Ice Center Sunday afternoon.
Through two periods, the game provided little excitement. A goal by Dani Kerr (Sr.-Little Canada, Minn./Roseville) at 7:59 of the first period gave the Blugolds (3-5-2, 3-3-2 NCHA) a lead they would hold until the third period.
What the first two periods lacked in drama, the third period all but made up for it. The Green Knights (3-3-2, 2-3-1) were not able to solve Blugolds goaltender Paige Turner (Fr.-Iron River, Wis./Duluth East) who made 30 saves through the first two periods.
But at 5:12 of the third period, they finally broke through to tie the game at 1-1. Just 1:26 later at 6:38 of the third, the Green Knights scored again to take their first lead of the game.
With time winding down in the third period, it was Kerr again who came through for the Blugolds as she tied the game at 17:53 on an assist from Sam Knutson (So.-North St. Paul, Minn./North St. Paul).
Turner had to make one more big save though, as she turned away a breakaway in the final minutes to send the game to overtime. The Green Knights began the overtime on the power-play as a penalty on the Blugolds at the end of the third period carried over. But the Blugolds were able to kill the penalty and that set up Stephanie Hatcher (Jr.-Burnsville, Minn./Lakeville North) to be the hero.
Hatcher came down the left wing and snuck a shot just under the glove of the Green Knight's goaltender to give the Blugolds the two game sweep.
The other key moment in the game came in the second period when Katie Ward (Sr.-Andover, Minn./Coon Rapids) was given a five-minute major and a game-misconduct for checking-from-behind. But the Blugolds, along with Turner, held strong and killed off the entire power-play.
Turner finished the game with 40 saves on 42 shots, while the Blugolds finished with 28 shots-on-goal. They also finished 0-for-1 on the power-play, while the Green Knights were 0-for-5 on the player advantage.
The Blugolds will take on Marian (Wis.) next weekend in the final two games before the holiday break. They will play Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.
-JM-
