Coming off their first win of the season last weekend the Lions headed to St. Paul, Minnesota to take on the St. Thomas Tommies in a two-game series. The Lions came into the series with a record of 1-8-1 on the season, while the Tommies came in 4-5-1 on the season.
Game one took place on Thursday night in Minnesota, with the opening period seeing the Tommies take the lead first at 11:06. The Lions would tie the game at 17:59 on a goal by Gigi Pora, assisted by Sydney Rarick. In the final two minutes of the first period the Tommies would score two goals to give them a 3-1 lead going into the second period.
The second period did not get any better for the Lions, as they gave up two more goals late into the second. The Lions were held off the scoresheet in the period, and at this point of the game, were trailing the Tommies 5-1.
At 11:47 of the third period, the Lions would score a goal to make it 5-2. The goal was scored by Morgan Neitzke, assisted by Molly Henderson and Ellie Muscedere. That goal for Neitzke was the 50th in her career, making her the first Lion to score 50 goals. The Tommies would add two more goals later in the third, to make the final score 7-2 for the Tommies.
The Tommies ended up outshooting the Lions 35-19 in the game. Lions goalie Anna LaRose stopped 22 out of the 27 shots that she faced, and Catherine Hodgins stopped six of the eight shots she faced in the loss.
Game two of the series took place on Friday afternoon. The Lions would jump out to an early lead in this one, with a goal at 3:35. The goal was scored by Olivia Grabianowski assisted by Neitzke. With that assist Neitzke recorded her 100th career point as a Lion, becoming the first player in program history to hit this milestone. Six minutes later in the frame, the Tommies would tie the game at one. St. Thomas outshot the Lions 12-5 in the first, as the game would go into the intermission tied at one.
The second period was all Lions, taking the lead back early with a goal at 5:42. The goal was scored by Pora, and assisted by Sydney Jackel. Then about six minutes later, the Lions would score again. This time, it was Maegan Cronan scoring her first career goal, as a Lion to extend the lead to two. The Lions were not done in the second, scoring again in the final minute. The last goal of the period was scored by Josey Dunne, assisted by Henderson and Neitzke. The goal by Dunne was her first career goal. The Lions would take a 4-1 lead into the third period, though the Tommies outshot the Lions 9-7 in the second.
The Lions would not only hold the lead, but added two more goals of their own in the third. The first was an empty net goal at 17:51, scored by Neitzke and assisted by Rarick. The final goal of the game for the Lions was scored by Silje Gundersen. The Lions would win the game 6-1 to earn the series split, though the Tommies outshot the Lions 13-7 in the third period.
Lions goalie Hodgins played really well, stopping 33 of 34 shots that she faced in her first career start earning her first career win.
After the split of the series, the Lions now sit with a record of 2-9-1 on the season. The Lions will continue on the road next weekend when they take on Penn State Nov. 15th and 16th in University Park, Pennsylvania.
