Senior goaltender Alexa Dobchuk saved 37 out of 40 shots for the Tommies, but the St. Thomas women’s hockey team could not split the series Saturday, losing 3-0 to Minnesota State University-Mankato at St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights.
The Tommies (4-11-1, 2-11-1 WCHA) also lost Friday at Mankato, with a final score of 3-1. Coach Joel Johnson was happy with the team’s performance in the second game of the series.
“I thought we played great,” Johnson said. “Certainly (the Mavericks) generated some shot volume that put us on the defensive side a little bit … and Dobchuk played just how we thought she would.”
Dobchuk noted each period getting “better and better,” for her and the Tommies.
“We were really on top of them,” Dobchuk said. “We had a couple of really good chances and it could have been a different game if we had capitalized on some of them.”
After a slow and scoreless first period, Mavericks (7-9-0, 3-9-0 WCHA) junior forward Kennedy Bobyck scored on the power play with just over six minutes left in the second period after she found a loose puck in front of the net.
“It was a tough loss,” first-year defender Nicole Vallario, who had two shots-on-goal in the game, said. “We battled really hard and we gave everything we had.”
The Mavericks kept their momentum in the third period, with senior forward Brittyn Fleming scoring 36 seconds in off the skate of Tommies first-year defender Maddy Clough. Junior forward Kelsey King scored six minutes later after a stretch pass led to a breakaway for King which she buried off the post.
Mavericks junior goaltender Calla Frank shut out the Tommies, stopping all 12 shots that came her way.
The Tommies will travel to St. Charles, Missouri to play Lindenwood University in a two game series Friday, Dec. 10 and Saturday, Dec. 11.
Johnson hopes to repeat the team’s performance today next weekend.
“I’d love to just keep playing the same way,” Johnson said. “And I think if we do, we’re going to find success.”
Justin Amaker can be reached at justin.amaker@stthomas.edu.