MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. — The St. Thomas women’s hockey team upset Augsburg, who lead the conference prior to tonight’s matchup, 4-2 Saturday at St. Thomas Ice Arena.
The Tommies (9-10-3 overall, 8-5-3 MIAC) lead the all-time series between the two teams 27-8-3, typically making them the favorites each time they lace up their skates against the Auggies (16-7-0 overall, 12-4-0 MIAC). On Saturday, however, St. Thomas was the underdog, ranked fifth in the MIAC, while the Auggies lead the conference.
“They’re a good team, but I feel that we’re up at that level as well,” head coach Tom Palkowski said.
The underdogs quickly proved they could skate with the MIAC’s top competitor.
St. Thomas struck first when Tommie forward Kathryn Larson, who is second in the MIAC in total points, scored to give the Tommies a 1-0 lead with 8:35 left in the first period.
“I’m honored to be beneficiary of those points, but it’s honestly about the team. I’d rather win a MIAC championship than have that [points] title,” Larson explained.
From there, the Tommies never looked back. They scored three goals in the remaining time, including another from Larson in the second period to bring the score to 4-1.
“It was definitely a team effort,” defensmen Emily Michaelson said.
The game finished with an Augsburg goal by forward Darby Lindgren with 1:43 left in the third period, but by that time, a comeback was out of the question.
The Tommies look to keep the momentum going in their final three games and end the regular season on a high note.
“We definitely need to win the two conference games to have a chance to move up to fourth place and get home ice for that first game. That would be the biggest thing,” Palkowski stated.
St. Thomas will face UW-Stevens Point on Wednesday night and conclude its season in back-to-back matchups against St. Olaf next weekend.
Gamiel Hall can be reached at hall0211@stthomas.edu.