MEQUON, Wis. – There was a lot to celebrate on Friday night inside the Ozaukee Ice Center. The Concordia Wisconsin women's hockey team celebrated the 11 seniors with a 3-1 victory over Wisconsin-Stevens Point. The Falcons have now won 10 games in a row and improved to 13-3-0 on the year.
Before the game, the team honored the winningest class in Brooke history in Amanda Bauer (Waunakee, Wis.), Lilly Casher (Grayslake, Ill.), Brooke Gibson (LaSalle, Ontario), Erika Graham (Brighton, Mich.), Savannah Hutchins (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.), Olivia Kurtz (Plainfield, Ill.), Natalie Mackrell (Florissant, Colo.), Ashlyn Marshall (Vail, Colo.), Kami McCardle (Jackson, Wis.), Cheree Peters (Vernon, B.C.) and Megan Vettraino (Howell, Mich.).
The Pointers had the first quality opportunity of the evening after a body-checking penalty to the Falcons. Kami McCardle was quick to freeze the advantage with three saves.
The Falcons countered with a power play of their own and freshman Scout Stromberg (Tomahawk, Wis.) and junior Makayla Spejcher (Green Bay, Wis.) had shots that were saved.
Amanda Bauer scored the first goal of the evening at the 16:06 mark. Sophomore Naomi Black (Ottawa, Ontario) tossed the puck to sophomore Mackaylan McGown (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) who set up behind the net and found Bauer open in front of the cage to light the lamp.
The Falcons skated away with the one-goal lead after the first period after both teams had seven shots on net.
The Blue and White quieted the Pointers on their lone power play of the second period and held the Purple and Gold to one shot on the power play.
In the second period, the Falcons' opportunities continued to grow with a trio of power plays, each looking better than the last.
Brooke Gibson added to her program record in power-play goals when she scored off tic-tac-toe passes from Mackaylan McGown and Amanda Bower with 10.1 seconds left in the period.
The Birds blitzed the Pointers with a 15-5 advantage in shots in the second frame.
The Falcons came out hot in the third period and plastered three shots on Emily Griege in the second minute of the period.
Kami McCardle showed why she is one of the best in the business and collected some incredible saves to keep UWSP off the scoreboard.
The Pointers drew a penalty shot on a breakaway opportunity and snuck the puck into the net to cut into the lead with 8:52 remaining.
The Dogs kept barking at the CUW net and applied more pressure, but Kami McCardle silenced them with save after save.
UWSP pulled the goalie to try to apply more pressure, but that plan backfired when Makayla Spejcher scored a goal the length of the ice with 1:22 left off assists from freshman Sydney Fergusson (Bancroft, Ontario) and Kami McCardle. The assist is the first career point for McCardle. Spejcher has now scored a point in nine of the last 10 games.
The Falcons held a 35-20 advantage in shots on Friday night. Amanda Bauer led the flock with nine shots.
Kami McCardle had 19 saves in her seventh win of the season.
The Blue and White owned the faceoff circle once again on Friday with Mackaylan McGown winning 17 of 21, Brooke Gibson winning 11 of 17 and freshman Sophia Whiteaker (Normal, Ill.) winning six of eight.
The win snaps a 15-game winless streak against Stevens Point. The only other win came on Feb. 18, 2011.
The Falcons return to action on Friday when they return to Northern Collegiate Hockey Association play against St. Norbert.
