(Hudsonville, MI) – The woman's hockey team looked to keep their young winning season alive as they faced the Grand Valley Lakers for their second game of the season Saturday night. CUAA fell to the Lakers in an aggressive game but had new scorers along with a new goalie in the game.
Grand Valley was off to a quick start when they capitalized on a powerplay opportunity. At 5:49 Marlee Sprot scored an unassisted goal for the Lakers to put them up 1-0. Within the next minute her teammate Anna Braschwitz would also chalk up a goal for the Lakers. After a tussle near the Cardinal net Concordia goaltender Lizzy Knappenburger would head to the bench with an injury and Molly Burks would make her college debut between the pipes.
Grand Valley would start the second period much like the first with a quick goal from Kayli Sassak putting the Lakers up 3-0 with just under 17 minutes left to go in the second period. Aaliyah James would answer for the Cardinals. James would pick up a rebound from Mackenzie Smith to put the Cardinals on the board. Grand Valley would score again ending the second period with a score of 4-1.
Going into the third period Burk had some key saves to keep the Lakers scoreless. The Cardinals would earn one more goal when Grace Dodgson would go from coast to coast to sink the puck in the net. The Cardinals fought hard but would split this series with the Lakers. The ending tally of 4-2 gave the Lakers a win.
Grand Valley outshot Concordia by 1 (32-31) as the Cardinals ended their first weekend series 1-1.
CUAA will have a week to recover as their next game is Friday in Bryon Center, MI. They will take on the Saints from Aquinas at the Southside Ice Arena. Puck drop scheduled for 7:30pm.