Hamline 2, Yellowjackets 1 (OT)

SUPERIOR, Wis.: There's nothing easy about the early-season schedule for the Yellowjacket women's hockey team. Saturday it opened the season against a strong Gustavus club, then Tuesday welcomed Hamline to town to start the season against a pair of good teams from the M.I.A.C.

And although the opponents were different, unfortunately for the Yellowjackets the result was the same.

Dani Wright scored for Hamline 1:20 into overtime to give the Pipers a 2-1 win over the Yellowjackets Tuesday night at Wessman Arena in Superior, meaning the 'Jackets will have to wait a  little longer to get their first win of 2018-19.

In the first the Yellowjackets got off to the start they wanted and grabbed the early lead. Shortly after being released from the penalty box, Lauren Niska (Alexandria, Minn./Alexandria Area) intercepted a pass in the Hamline zone and stickhandled through traffic, leaving the defenders reaching for nothing but air. A quick stick fake later allowed Niska to easily slide the puck into the net for her first goal as a Yellowjacket and a 1-0 lead for the home team.

Hamline responded in the second on the power play. The Pipers were applying tremendous pressure in the offensive zone with the extra attacker, and a sharp passing play led to Leah Schwartzman picking up a rebound to the left of the goal and batting it home to tie the game 1-1.

It stayed that way through the end of regulation. Early in the overtime the Yellowjackets got the puck in the Hamline zone, but couldn't generate an chance. Moments later the Pipers took the puck the other way and dumped it into the Yellowjacket zone. Catherine Johnson (Lakeville, Minn./St. Paul Academy) came out and stopped the puck behind her goal, but the Pipers beat the Yellowjackets to the puck and Bre Simon moved the puck to the point where Wright got it and let a shot go from the top of the right circle, beating Johnson between the pads to give the Pipers the 2-1 win.

Johnson, making her second straight start was tremendous in goal for the Yellowjackets, finishing the game with 41 saves. She's now 0-2-0 on the year, but has a sparkling 1.98 goals against average and a .948 save percentage. At the other end McKenna Hulslander made 27 stops for Hamline.

Up Next: The Yellowjackets (0-2-0, 0-0-0 W.I.A.C.) will play a home-and-home weekend series with St. Catherine. The first game of the two-game set will be Friday night in St. Paul, Minnesota. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.