The Hamline University Women’s Hockey team and the Royals from Bethel University traded wins in a fiercely opposing weekend series on Nov. 21-22. What began as a strong defensive match against the Royals on Friday night turned into a strong rebound by Bethel on Saturday to put the series at 1–1.
From the beginning of the series, starting at TRIA Rink in the St. Paul skyline, both goaltenders came out with a point to prove. In the crease for Hamline was senior Kendra Nordick, who played an impressive game, earning her second shutout of the season.
For the first two periods, each team was able to showcase its defensive skills, holding each other off on the scoreboard. Bethel hounded Hamline with the shots, marking 25 combined shots in the first two periods, but Nordick and the Pipers were able to hold off the Royals, heading into the third period with a 0–0 score.
Four minutes into the third period, junior forward Annabel Mehta scored the lone goal of the game after finishing a strong feed from sophomores Averie Martin and Brooke Klemz.
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From that point on, the Pipers continued to hold off the Royals. Despite being outshot 33–30 throughout the game, Nordick and the Pipers were able to secure a 1–0 victory in the first game of the series.
The next day, the roles were reversed as Hamline traveled north to Blaine to take on the Royals.
For the Pipers, sophomore Harper Powell took over in net. Powell and the Pipers were able to hold off the Royals in the first period, leaving them to just four shots, keeping the game scoreless.
After being able to hold off the Royal offense in the first period, Bethel was able to slip one past Powell at 3:33, making the score 1–0.
Midway through the second, the Royals were able to extend their lead to 2–0, with a goal coming at 11:05, as well as another one at 19:33, making the score 3–0 going into the third.
The Pipers tried their best to come back in the third period, but Bethel’s defense was too strong, which ended up holding the Pipers off the score sheet.
Bethel was able to score again at 11:00 in the third, making the final score 4–0, delivering Hamline their first loss of the season.
While the split series showcased strong performances from both teams, the Pipers were provided with an early test to the season. With a fierce performance on Friday rebounded with their first loss of the season, which demonstrates how competitive the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) can be. The Pipers will use this to their advantage as they gear up to take on their next MIAC opponent, St. Scholastica, next weekend in another weekend series.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source hamlineoracle.com ’
