MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Alex Venning (Courtice, Ontario, Canada) stopped 37 shots and Addison Gruhlke (Eau Claire, Wis.) scored a third-period goal, but the Beloit College women's hockey team fell 3-1 to MSOE on Saturday at Kern Center Ice Arena. The Buccaneers (1-2-0) lost to the Raiders (4-0-0) in front of 116 fans.
MSOE outshot Beloit 40-18 and attempted 59 shots to the Buccaneers' 26. Venning, in net for all 60 minutes, kept Beloit in the game throughout. She turned aside 12 shots in the first period, 10 in the second and 15 in the third.
The Raiders' first goal came late in the first period. Lexi Jackson scored at 14:53 with assists from Hannah Baumann and MaryFrancis Williams. Beloit then killed off a two-minute MSOE power play, which began at 16:29 after a Lily Huffman (Saginaw, MI) penalty, to keep the deficit at one going into the break.
The second period was scoreless. MSOE put 21 shot attempts on net or toward it, but Venning stopped all 10 shots on goal and Beloit's defense blocked four more attempts. Natasha Ludwig (Royalton) and Natalie Gurr (Okotoks, Alberta, Canada)neach blocked a shot, and Huffman blocked two.
Beloit's best stretch came early in the third. MSOE doubled its lead at 2:18 when MaryFrancis Williams scored on the power play.
Beloit responded just 36 seconds later. Kennedy Gruhlke (Eau Claire, Wis.) set up Addison Gruhlke for a goal at 2:54 that cut the deficit to 1-2.
Beloit pressed for the equalizer. Addison Gruhlke, Kylie Schryer (Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario), Gurr and Olivia Bailey (College Station, TX) all took shots in the following minutes. MSOE's Ruby Thier ended the push at 7:01 with an unassisted goal that made it 3-1.
Beloit's defense limited MSOE's power play. The Raiders went 1-for-3 with the man advantage, and the only goal came after Hannah Chady's (Janesville, Wis.) high-sticking penalty. Venning stopped the other 10 shots MSOE took with a player advantage, including seven during Makenzee Kostiuk's (Thunder Bay, Ontario) cross-checking penalty in the third.
Beloit's only power play came in the second period after an MSOE interference penalty. The Buccaneers managed one shot in those two minutes. Beloit took 3 penalties for 6 minutes, compared with 1 for 2 minutes for MSOE.
Faceoffs favored MSOE 37-16. Hailey Chady was the lone bright spot for the Buccaneers, winning 8 of 13 draws (61.5%).
Venning was the story for the Buccaneers, stopping 37 of the 40 shots she faced over 60 minutes. She made 12 saves in the first period, 10 in the second and 15 in the third, and she turned away all 10 shots MSOE took on its other two power plays.
Offensively, the Gruhlke duo provided Beloit's lone goal. Addison Gruhlke scored at 2:54 of the third period, assisted by Kennedy Gruhlke, and the two finished with a plus-one rating and two shots on goal apiece. Hailey Chady also had two shots on goal and led the Buccaneers at the faceoff dot, winning 8 of 13 draws (61.5%).
On defense, Huffman led the team with three blocked shots, and Natalie Gurr added two. Natasha Ludwig also blocked a shot, helping limit MSOE's opportunities in front of Venning.
The Buccaneers return to the ice with games on Friday and Saturday next week. They head to St. Paul, Minnesota and Bethel Univeristy for two games. Puck drop on Friday from the Bethel University Arena - National Sports Center is set for 7 pm with Saturday's game time set for 2 pm.
