MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. – The No. 7 St. Thomas women’s hockey team defeated No. 4 Wisconsin River Falls 3-1 Wednesday at St. Thomas Ice Arena.
The Tommies (6-0 MIAC, 11-0 overall) were down early in the first period after Falcons (10-2-0) forward Reilly Springman scored just 1:32 into play, leaving the score 1-0 at the end of the first.
“(River) Falls has been a little bit of a thorn in our side in the last four years, so the girls had some doubts,” St. Thomas coach Tom Palkowski said. “After the first period, I told them they proved they were the faster team and better team. They just had to go out and finish the job, and they did.”
The Tommies tied the Falcons with an early goal in the second period by forward Allison Parnell and took the lead after a powerplay goal late in the period by forward Maddy Fielder.
The Falcons tried to even the 2-1 score in the final period by taking 11 shots, but were unable to get the puck inside the net.
Tommies’ goalie Mackenzie Torpy saved 22 out of 23 shots and recorded her 55th career win.
“I feel like my goal is always to put my team in a position to win,” Torpy said. “Obviously I didn’t do that to start tonight giving up the first shot, but that’s when I really knew I had to dig in and put the team in a position where we could get the victory.”
With just 12 seconds remaining in the game, St. Thomas forward Shae McLean scored on an empty net to secure the win.
The St.Thomas women’s hockey team celebrates after the buzzer sounds. The No.7 ranked Tommies defeated the No.4 ranked Falcons 3-1.
(Carly Noble/TommieMedia)
The Tommies will resume games in January, starting Jan. 5 at St. Thomas Arena with a non-conference game against St. Scholastica.
The team will carry a 24-game win streak into the second half of the season.
“We are really buying in, staying humble and working as one unit,” Torpy said.
Carly Noble can be reached at nobl1781@stthomas.edu