MEQUON, Wis. – When Emily Heckendorf scored at the 9:33 mark of the third period for the Concordia University Wisconsin Women's Hockey team in its non-conference matchup against St. Catherine, it appeared the Falcons were going to coast to a victory. CUW had gone up 2-0 and the Wildcats had shown no sign of being able to get anything going offensively.
That wouldn't be the case however, as SCU scored with 4:33 remaining and had several other strong chances over the final few minutes, but Bridget Slater and the Falcons defense held strong for a 2-1 win Friday night at the Ozaukee Ice Center.
Of those quality chances for the visiting Wildcats included a shot at a wide open net on a rebound opportunity. Fortunately for the Falcons the puck bounced off the post, allowing CUW to escape with the 2-1 victory. St. Catherine pulled goaltender Abbi White for the final 1:26 of play and got several of its chances over that final stretch.
Junior Jayda Hoerres and Heckendorf (Merrill, Wis.) netted goals 1:31 apart from one another to give CUW a 2-0 lead midway through the third. For Hoerres (Melrose, Wis.) it was the first goal of her career and put the Falcons up 1-0 with just under 12 minutes to go. Sophomore Brandi Muller (Anchorage, Alaska) and junior Katherine Pauletti (Roseville, Minn.) assisted on the Hoerres goal, which was scored on a backhand rebound.
Heckendorf then netted her fifth goal of the season at the 9:33 mark off an assist from junior Alexis Machuga (Rochester Hills, Mich.). Machuga now leads the Falcons with six assists this season and has four points over her last two games.
The Wildcats (3-6-2) would cut the Falcons lead in half on a power play goal scored with 4:33 remaining. Following a CUW penalty at the 15:22 mark, CSU called a timeout and opted to pull White for a 6-on-4 advantage in trying in inch back into the game. The move worked as the Wildcats scored five seconds into the power play on a Jordan Solheim goal, assisted by Annie Buttermore.
That would be all the scoring the rest of the way as Slater (sophomore – Roseau, Minn.) and company held strong for the win. Slater finished the night with 19 saves, 10 of those coming in the final 20 minutes of play and several of those coming down the stretch run. The Falcons defense made life easy on the netminder in the first 40 minutes, holding SCU to nine shots on goal.
White would end the night with 21 saves for the Wildcats, including eight each in the second and third periods. Neither team spent much time in the penalty box Friday, with the Falcons being whistled for three infractions and the Wildcats just one.
These two will finish off the weekend series tomorrow afternoon with a 2 p.m. puck drop at the Ozaukee Ice Center. Live stats and video will be available at CUWFalcons.com.
