Notables
-CSS advances to first NCHA Championship game
-Thomeczek sets single-season program record for wins (15)
-Anderson extends point streak to five games
-CSS extends winning streak to 11 games
ADRIAN, Mich. (
csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica women's hockey team scored a goal in each period and for the third time this season
Lexi Thomeczek (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph Academy (St. Louis AAA Blues)) blanked Lake Forest College (Ill.) as the Saints advanced to the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) Slaats Cup Championship Game with a 3-0 victory Friday night.
How It Happened
After both teams failed to convert on the power-play early in the first period, St. Scholastica's
Amber Tilander (International Falls, Minn./Falls HS) would out-hustle the puck away from Foresters and went in one-on-one to beat the goaltender to give the Saints a 1-0 lead at the first intermission. The Saints out-shot the Foresters 13-7 in the first 20 minutes.
It remained 1-0 until less than seven minutes left in the second period when
Rachel Anderson (Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View HS) beat a couple of defenders and beat the goaltender with the backhand to give the Saints a 2-0 lead at the second intermission.
Greta Nundahl (New Brighton, Minn./Irondale HS) and
Kennedy Houge (Woodbury, Minn./Hill-Murray HS) had the assists. Lake Forest had a 14-10 shot advantage in the period.
The Foresters (16-7-5) would fail to score on a power-play early in the third period, which gave the Saints the opportunity to score the all-important next goal.
Alexia Klaas (Duluth, Minn./Duluth Denfeld HS (Minnesota-Duluth)) did just that, beating the goaltender top-shelf to make it 3-0 with over 13 minutes remaining.
Taylor Thompson (Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo HS) had the assist.
From that point on it was the Thomeczek show for the Saints. CSS committed three penalties in the final six minutes, including a double-minor and just over a minute of 5-on-3 hockey for the Foresters. Thomeczek would stop every shot she saw during that span, stopping nine shots in a five-minute span. Before and after the power-plays, the Foresters hit the pipe twice, but Thomeczek finished with 16 saves in the period to preserve the shutout as the game ended 3-0.
Goaltending
Thomeczek finished with 37 saves on the night for her 15
th win of the season, a new single-season record. It was also her seventh shutout on the year. Jacque Rogers had 25 saves in the loss for the Foresters
Up Next
The Saints (21-6-1) will face No. 6 Adrian College (Mich.) for the NCHA Slaats Cup Championship on Sunday at 2 p.m. (ET). The winner will receive an automatic qualifier into next week's NCAA Division III Tournament.
