Yellowjackets blast Blazers

Karen Larson scored the first two goals of the game on Friday as the Yellowjackets won their third straight, 5-1 at St. Benedict.

Box Score

Yellowjackets 5, St. Benedict 1

The train just keeps on rolling for the Yellowjacket women's hockey team.

After a loss to UW-River Falls at Wessman Arena on December 6, the Yellowjackets have been playing away from home, and they haven't lost a game since. On Friday night at St. Benedict they stretched their unbeaten streak to seven games (5-0-2) with a 5-1 rout of the Blazers in St. Joseph, Minn.

Karen Larson (Blumenort, Manitoba/Steinbach Regional Secondary) continued her torrid scoring pace, potting a pair of goals to lead the Yellowjackets. Larson took over the team goal scoring lead in the game and now has 10 on the season. She has scored seven times in the past seven games.

Larson's first goal came at 5:54 of the opening frame to give the Yellowjackets a 1-0 lead. Dani Schultz (Morris, Minn./Morris Area) and Kelsey Firkus (Chilliwack, British Columbia/Chilliwack Senior Secondary) assisted. Larson scored her second of the game, the eventual game winner at 13:20 of the period and the Yellowjackets were up 2-0 after one period.

The Blazers got on the board at 9:17 of the second period, as Emma Carlsson Sandelin scored to cut the lead in half. The Yellowjackets had an answer a short time later. Haley Olmstead (Fargo, N.D./Fargo North), on an assist from Kiara De Kezel (Deloraine, Manitoba/Deloraine) notched her eighth goal of the season at 12:41 to once again put the Yellowjackets up by a pair of goals. A little less than four minutes later the Yellowjackets stretched the lead to 4-1 when Pamela McLeod (Gillam, Manitoba/Balmoral Hall Prep) scored her first collegiate goal at 16:29. McLeod's goal came unassisted.

Late in the third period the Yellowjackets closed out the scoring when senior Alison Shrift (Traverse City, Mich./West High School) scored her third goal of the season at 14:06 to make the final score 5-1. Kerry Mayhew (Littleton,Colo./Heritage) assisted on the shorthanded goal, her second helper of the game.

Shanley Peters (Gnadenthal, Manitoba/Garden Valley Collegiate) got the start in goal for the Yellowjackets and continued her stellar play, as she finished the contest with 23 saves. For the season, Peters is 9-2-4 with a sparkling 1.50 goals against average and an equally impressive .936 save percentage. Jenna Traut made 22 saves in the losing effort for St. Benedict.

In the game the Yellowjackets took five penalties for 10 minutes, while the Blazers took just two minor penalties, totaling four minutes. The Yellowjackets were 0-for-2 on the power play and 5-for-5 on the penalty kill.

The Yellowjackets (10-2-4, 2-2-2 WIAC) and Blazers will play the second game of their weekend home-and-home series on Saturday night at Wessman Arena. The opening face-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

Print Friendly Version