The Aquinas women's hockey team remained unbeaten in 2021, as the Saints recorded a pair of home victories over Lake Superior State this weekend. AQ topped the Lakers by a 6-1 score on Friday night (Feb. 26) before a 5-2 victory on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 27), with both wins coming at Southside Ice Arena.
AQ improves to 4-0-1 on the season and has outscored its opponents by a 23-6 margin in the first five games.
10 different Saints either scored or assisted on Friday's six goals. Anna Castle started things off with an early goal just 64 seconds into the game, assisted by Natalie Vaitas and Mikayla Oppermann. Lake Superior State tied the game at 1-1 with a power play goal five minutes later.
Jenna Blackwell made it 2-1 at the end of the first period, scoring with 5:21 to play. Alyssa Buzar assisted on the goal. AQ scored twice more in the second period for a 4-1 lead. The first goal was an Amelia Bartels tally at the 14:10 mark, assisted by Lauren Tulloch and Tori Feddema. Alexandra Drevline found the back of the net at 1:53, with Oppermann and Buzar being credited with the helper.
Aquinas added two power play goals in the third period to close out the scoring. Tulloch made it 5-1 with a goal off a Madison Morgrette assist at the 15:16 mark. Oppermann closed things out with 2:34 remaining, scoring the sixth goal for AQ. Blackwell earned the assist on the goal.
The Saints posted a stunning 73-17 edge in shots. Ally Kennedy stopped 16 shots in goal for Aquinas to earn the victory.
On Saturday, Oppermann scored AQ's first two goals, sandwiched around a Lake Superior State tally. She found the net at 13:13 on an assist from Olivia Menard before LSSU tied the score six minutes later. Oppermann's second tally was in the second period at the 8:09 mark, with Castle receiving credit for the assist.
Castle then scored less than a minute later, with Buzar tallying the assist at the 7:27 mark for the 3-1 advantage. Oppermann recorded the hat trick with 15:13 remaining in the third period, with Vaitas and Castle assisting on the third goal.
Vaitas made it 5-1 four minutes later, scoring on a power play goal, as Kozar nabbed the assist on the final tally for AQ. The Saints outshot Lake Superior State 82-25 in Saturday's victory. Kennedy was again in goal and made 23 saves to earn the win.
Aquinas has a home-and-home series next weekend (Mar. 5-6) against Concordia.
