January 9, 2009

PSU Women’s Ice Hockey drops first game in Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - Sophomore Jess Kniefel (Owatonna, Minn.) scored a hat trick Friday afternoon to lead the College of St. Catherine past Plymouth State University, 6-2, in a non-conference women's ice hockey game at Ridder Arena.

Freshman Jaimie Camara (Portsmouth, R.I.) scored both goals for the Panthers, and senior goalie Lindsay DeLorie (Holliston, Mass.) finished with a season-high 69 saves, but PSU fell to 0-8-0 on the season. St. Kate's stopped a two-game losing skid and improved to 5-6-1.

After a scoreless first period, Camara gave the Panthers the lead with her first goal of the game 2:47 into the second period, with an assist from freshman Molly Blaine (Concord, N.H.). The lead was short-lived, though, as the Wildcats tied it up just 22 seconds later on Kniefel's first of the game, and the home team took the lead just a minute after that on a goal by sophomore Megan Boehmer (Inver Grove Heights, Minn). Junior Aryn Ball (Bemidji, Minn.) scored a goal later in the second period for St. Kate's to make it a 3-1 game entering the final period.

Freshman Cassie Rooney (Plymouth, Minn.) scored for the Wildcats early in the third period to extend the lead to 4-1. Kniefel tacked on her second of the game at the 10:46 mark to make it 5-1 before Camara tallied her second of the game and team-leading fifth of the season a little over a minute later, with an assist from freshman Nichole Eustis (Falmouth, Mass.). Kniefel completed the hat trick with her third of the game at 12:39 to round out the scoring.

Plymouth State continues its three-game road trip to Minnesota on Saturday with a 2:00 p.m. (CT) face-off at Augsburg College.

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