SAINT PAUL, MINN.—Senior defense Elizabeth Valley's unassisted tally at 1:36 into overtime propelled the Hamline University women's hockey team to a 4-3 (OT) victory over St. Catherine at Tria Rink on Friday afternoon.
The Pipers move to 7-7, 6-1 MIAC, and snap a three-game losing skid. The Wildcats fall to 9-4-1, 3-3-1 MIAC.
Hamline 4, St. Catherine 3 (OT)
The Pipers dominated the opening frame with a 14-2 advantage in shots. Their sixth shot of the game found the back of the net at 6:57 when Haley Eder-Zdechlik executed a pass from mid-ice that got through Wildcat players to Annika Lindgren at the left circle, where she finished with her second goal of the season to make things 1-0. Erika Broten was also credited an assist on the play.
St. Catherine began to find their seat legs in the second frame, but it was the Pipers who struck first at 4:37Â thanks to Eder-Zdechlik's goal that pushed the lead to 2-0. The Wildcats would find their offensive flair as back-to-back goals from Lauren Henriksen at 12:40 (power play) and 16:19 of the second knotted the game at 2-2. That was short-lived, as Sydney Lemke banged home a shot in a scrum at the net at 18:11, which gave Hamline a 3-2 lead.
Momentum was in the Wildcats' favor in the third period, where they held a 10-5 advantage in shots. It culminated in Isabel Burt's extra-attacker score at 19:15 that evened the score at 3-3.
Hamline prevailed at the tail-end, as Elizabeth Valley crashed the net before she let a back-hand shot go that beat Wildcats goaltender Elizabeth Kubicek on her right side to give her team a 4-3 (OT) victory.
Hamline outshot St. Catherine 29-19. Kendra Nordick made 16 saves in net for the Pipers, while Kubicek stopped 25 shots for the Wildcats. Eder-Zdechlik and Valley each had a goal and an assist, while Erika Broten tallied two assists.
The Pipers will look for the weekend sweep of St. Catherine tomorrow, Saturday, January 14 at Drake Arena. Game time is set for 2 p.m.
