Sports
Women’s hockey gears up for season’s end, playoffs
The Pointer
nmeye177@uwsp.edu
The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point women’s hockey team went 1-1 over the weekend against the University of Wisconsin-Superior Yellowjackets at Ice Hawks Arena. The Pointers fell just short on Friday, falling 2-1 after Yellowjacket keeper Melissa Kunzelman managed 32 saves, but they came out swinging on Saturday holding the Yellowjackets to no goals and getting the 2-0 victory on Senior Day.
The first period went scoreless Friday night and UW-Superior was the first to capitalize in the second period, scoring the game’s first goal seven-and-a-half minutes in. The Pointers answered back quickly with a goal by Rachel Graves 22 seconds later to tie the game, but that’s as close as the team would come to the victory. UW-Superior added on another goal late in the second and the tough goal play of UW-Superior kept the Pointers from tying it up after five separate tries.
The game put the two teams in a tie for second place in the NCHA, but the Pointers would not go quietly into the night. On Saturday they wasted no time with senior Michelle Sosnowski scoring the only goal of the first period around the half-way point. The Pointers sealed the deal with a goal in the second period by Dana Carothers and the solid play of d’Andra Phillips as she worked her way to 22 saves and her third shutout game.
“We outplayed Superior both games but on Friday night we made more crucial mistakes which they capitalized on,” said Head Coach Ann Ninnemann. “We made fewer mistakes on Saturday and also buried our chances that we had.”
With the win the Pointers improved to 11-4-5 overall, 8-4-3 in NCHA play while the loss dropped Superior to 12-7-2 overall, 8-4-2 in NCHA play, putting the Pointers alone in the second place seat in the conference. The Pointers, who were picked to finish number two in the conference this season behind UW-Superior, have five more games to go before heading to the playoffs with two games against Lake Forest coming up this weekend.
“We are taking the last five games one at a time,” said Ninnemann. “Our last two conference games this weekend against Lake Forest are huge.”
The Pointers then go on to play Gustavus, who is currently ranked number one in the country. After the test of Gustavus, the Pointers will play two games on the road against Adrian to finish out the season. Then it will be time to think about the playoffs. The seniors on the team are trying to do all they can to keep the team on track.
“We have many new kids and, yes, playoffs are big, but if we keep everything light and play like we can and stay on the same track that we are currently on with a little more hard work, everything should go our way,” said senior Michele Sosnowski.
“It is going to take a whole team to be successful in the post season,” said senior Rachel Graves. “We are staying positive and focusing our thoughts and actions as a team and not just individuals or upperclassmen.”
The team is looking to build on the strengths it’s developed throughout the season, and are trying to pick apart what they did wrong in close games to prevent those things from hindering their playoff run.
“We are still practicing and working on many of the same concepts we have all season, just trying to perfect them a bit more,” said Ninnemann. “We are also focusing a lot on special teams as a lot of games have come down to special teams.”
Another key to the Pointers’ success in the playoffs will be defense. Many games this season came down to whose defense stood the length of the game.
“We are looking to play great team defense for the final five games and into the playoffs,” said Ninnemann. “Staying tough in the defensive zone and staying out of the penalty box.”
The Pointers will undoubtedly face number one seed UW-River Falls in the playoffs if they continue to excel and succeed. The Pointers grabbed one victory against River Falls while falling in two contests during the season. To accomplish their goal of winning the National Championship the Pointers will first have to pass this test.
“We will most likely face River Falls in the playoffs and we will need to bury our opportunities in front of the net which we struggled to do in the two losses against them,” said Ninnemann.
The Pointer women’s hockey team season is far from over and things will really begin to get interesting in the next few weeks. The team will take to the ice again on Feb. 13, in Lake Forest, Ill. to take on the Lake Forest Foresters. The game starts at 7 p.m.
