MEQUON, Wis. – The Concordia Wisconsin women's hockey team packed the stands on Youth Hockey Night and sent the fans home with smiles after a thrilling 4-3 victory on Friday night. The victory sends the Falcons to 4-1-0 on the young season and to 3-0-0 in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association.

The Raiders struck first on Friday with a goal in the second minute of the contest and held that lead after the first period.

The Falcons tied the game in the second minute of the second period when senior Makayla Spejcher (Green Bay, Wis.) tipped in a rebound off a shot from sophomore Scout Stromberg (Tomahawk, Wis.) and a secondary assist to junior Brenna-Grace Dittmer (Chatham-Kent, Ontario).

Spejcher struck again 12 minutes into the period off a steal and a top-shelf beauty of a shot.

Two minutes later, junior Mackaylan McGown (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) lit the lamp off tic-tac-toe passes from Scout Stromberg and Brenna-Grace Dittmer.

MSOE showed no quit on Friday and tied the game with two goals late in the third period.

Freshman Abby Hansberger (Elk River, Minn.) broke the tie with 90 seconds left in the game when she streaked down the right side off a pass from Scout Stromberg and a secondary touch from Brenna-Grace Dittmer.

The Falcons were able to keep the puck in the MSOE zone for the rest of the game to ice the victory.

The Birds held a 36-19 advantage in shots on Friday and were led by junior Naomi Black (Ottawa, Ontario) with six.

Sophomore Gretchen Paaverud (Ramsey, Minn.) finished with 16 saves against the Raiders.

Concordia dominated the faceoff circle on Friday and Mackaylan McGown won a game-high 13 draws. Freshman Julie Barlow also won all seven of her faceoffs. The three assists are a career-best for Scout Stromberg.

The Falcons finish off the series on Saturday afternoon in Milwaukee.