WINONA, Minn. – After a two-week break, the Hamline women's hockey team (3-0, 1-0 MIAC) was ready to go, defeating Saint Mary's (0-2-1, 0-1 MIAC) 2-1 in their first conference game of the season on Saturday night. The Pipers are now 3-0 to start the year and will look to carry that momentum into their next contest as they head to St. Thomas on Wednesday night for a non-conference matchup.
First year
Emme Nelson got the scoring going for HU, scoring a little before the halfway mark of the first period, netting her third goal of the season. Less than three minutes later, sophomore
Madison Davis joined in on the scoring fun, finishing a passing sequence from
Sydney Lemke and
Elizabeth Valley on a power play. It was Davis' goal that would be the game-winner, her first game-winning goal of the season and the fourth of her career.
The Pipers have had three different players score the game-winning goal so far in the season, with
Sophie Rausch and
Olivia Arkell getting the difference maker in the first and second games, respectively.
Sophomore
Ava Bailey earned her third win in net, making a career-high 20 saves in the contest (including 10 in the second period), to bring her save percentage to .964 on the year.
After taking a 2-0 lead into the first break, the Pipers cooled off offensively, and despite holding a 25-21 edge in shots would not be able to score again the rest of the game. The Cardinals were quiet in the second period as well and Hamline would remain in the lead heading into the final period.
Late in the third, Saint Mary's was able to get on the board, as Jordan Modjeski got one past Bailey with less than four minutes left in the game. The Piper defense held strong, however, enduring the final minute and a half with SMU adding an extra skater after pulling their goalie.
The Pipers will play their final two non-conference games of the season in this upcoming week, heading to St. Thomas on Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. matchup and then will host Saint Mary's to TRIA on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. Live stat and video information will be available on the schedule page.
