The St. Cloud State University women's hockey team (11-11-3, 7-10-3 WCHA) rallied with two third period goals but it wasn't enough to prevent #3 ranked Minnesota (22-3-0, 17-3-0 WCHA) from gaining a 4-2 victory at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minn. on Saturday, Jan. 23.
Minnesota opened the game with a pair of power play goals in the first period to earn a 2-0 lead in the game. Milica McMillen scored UM's first goal on the advantage at 4:57 of the first. Cara Piazza pushed the Gophers' lead to 2-0 with her PPG at 15:03 of the first.
In the second period, the Gophers' Taylor Williamson scored her club's only goal at the 15:03 mark to make it 3-0. Lauren HespenheideThe Huskies rallied in the opening portion of the third period with the team's first goal of the day by Lauren Hespenheide at 1:51. Her even-strength marker was assisted by Vanessa Spataro. This was Hespenheide's fifth goal of the 2015-16 season, while it was Spataro's third assist of the year for the Huskies.
Minnesota replied with another power play goal by Dani Cameranesi at 5:22 of the third, which made the tally 4-1. To complete the day, SCSU's Suvi Ollikainen scored her second goal of the season with a power play marker at 12:31 of the third. Hannah Potrykus provided the lone assist on the play for the Huskies.
On the day, Minnesota outshot the Huskies 38-14. Katie Fitzgerald made 34 saves in the nets for the Huskies, while Sidney Peters posted 12 saves in the game for UM. On the power play, UM was 3-6 and the Huskies were 1-2.
The Huskies will continue their 2015-16 season on the road with games on Jan. 30-31 at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisc. SCSU will be back in town on Feb. 5-6 with a pair of home dates against Bemidji State University.
