Friday, December 9, 2011

Women’s hockey gets down to business

By Morgan Stock
Cardinal Staff

The Saint Mary’s University women’s hockey team entered into the full swing of conference play when they faced off against Hamline University on Nov. 11, opening conference play with a 1-0 win at home against the Pipers.

On the road the next day for game two in St. Paul, the Cardinals couldn’t pull off another win, and the Pipers evened up the match with 1-1 tie.

After losing only 4 seniors from last year’s team, the Cardinals have many returning players, and the incoming freshmen have talent to add to the team.

“Our team is doing pretty well so far; we have a lot of potential and so much talent,” said junior captain Erin Stenseth. “We just have to score more goals and be able to close out games with our defense.”

As of now the Cardinals are 2-5-3 overall and 1-3-2 in the MIAC. The leading scorer for the Cardinals is senior captain Nicole Olson with 3 goals and 3 assists. Right behind her is freshman Breanna Peterson.

“This year, our top team goal is to make playoffs because of how much talent we have on this team,” said senior defenseman Dana Kreuser.

“Other goals that we have are being more aggressive with shooting the puck, having successful power-plays that we score on and working as a team with the system that Coach Terry Mannor has set for us,” Kreuser said.

Senior manager Madeline Lenz said, “The girls need to play every single shift and every minute of every period. By making mistakes in a game, they are learning from them, which is helping them become better players.”

The Cardinals will play three non-conference games over Christmas break. They are back in action for conference play on Saturday, Jan. 21, at home against the University of St. Thomas at 2 p.m.

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