Despite strong start
Despite strong start, Blazers fall to Tommies
Staff writer
Despite the pressure of playing St. Thomas, the top team in the MIAC, St. Ben's hockey coach Dave Laliberte had no special words of advice for his team before last weekend's series.
"It's St. Thomas," Laliberte said with a laugh. "I don't need to say anything."
Given the Tommies unbeaten conference record, not to mention the longstanding rivalry between the two teams, the weekend series posed no small challenge to the Blazers.
"We knew we were playing the top dog, [so we had] expectations going into it," senior captain Kari Dykhoff said. "We knew we had to play pretty good hockey."
Despite being defeated twice by the Tommies, first 6-2 on Friday at St. Thomas and 6-1 on Sunday at the St. Cloud Municipal Athletic Complex, many players felt the team stepped up to the challenge.
"We played really well," first-year forward Erin Baldwin said. "The score just didn't reflect it."
St. Ben's was first to score on Friday. First-year Stephanie Gassert scored on an assist by first-years Sarah Wilson and Carliene Quist 14 minutes into the first period. Quist picked up her second assist in the second period, helping junior forward Susan Engel put the puck in the net.
Despite the early lead, the Tommies took over with "a very strong power play," Dykhoff said. "We were thrown a lot of things defensively that we haven't seen before. The first night we didn't have the best game defensively. [Sunday] we played three strong periods of hockey."
The Tommies took an overwhelming 4-0 lead in the first period of Sunday's game. Junior forward Katie Ponsolle managed the Blazers' only goal early in the second on an assist by junior Amy Glaeser. Although the Tommies responded just over a minute later, neither team was able to score throughout the second half of the game.
"Scratch the first period and it was a 2-1 game," Baldwin said.
"I completely agree with the players' assessment that we played a good game. We fought hard, [but] we want to keep getting better," Laliberte said. "I'm happy with a lot of things that have happened during the season, [but] we can be happy but not satisfied. We have more work to do, more fun to have."
The Blazers (7-11-1 overall, 4-9-1 MIAC) are nearing the end of their season with just four more scheduled games. For Dykhoff and the four other seniors on the team, the end of the season also means the end of their hockey careers at St. Ben's.
"It's kind of a sad time. I know I don't want to graduate," Dykhoff said with a laugh. "Playing college hockey for St. Ben's is one of the best experiences I've had. The friendships I've gained are ones I'll have for the rest of my life."
St. Ben's next series opens at 2:05 p.m. on Saturday at Augsburg, followed by a rematch at 2 p.m. on Sunday at the St. Cloud Municipal Athletic Complex.
Athletic Department
College of Saint Benedict
37 South College Avenue
St. Joseph, MN 56374
320-363-5301
Fax 320-363-6098