The No. 1 St. Thomas women’s hockey team lost to No. 4 Hamline University 3-0 Saturday in the Frozen Four at a sold out St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights.
After playing without their star goalie, the Tommies (25-2-2) were unable to score against the Pipers (23-3-3) goalie Jaela O’Brien who recorded her third shutout of the season.
“We expected exactly what we saw,” Senior defenseman Heidi Hannula said. “We just hoped that we also came out and matched their speed.”
The Tommies’ star goalie Kenzie Torpy was unable to play against the Pipers after suffering a knee injury in practice on Thursday, March 14. The Tommies started first-year Eryn Cooley in her place.
“Very unfortunate,” coach Tom Palkowski said. “(It) was hard to look (Torpy) in the eye today and see the devastation.”
The Pipers scored early in the first period with a goal by Zoey Lobejko, assisted by Madison Kolbow a minute and a half into the game. The Pipers scored again seconds later with a goal by Bre Simon and an assist by Leah Schwartzman, giving the Pipers a 2-0 at the end of the first period. The Tommies struggled as they were heavily outshot 11-3 by the Pipers.
The Pipers scored another goal early in the second period before it was overturned by the refs. They eventually scored their third goal midway through the second period on a power-play goal by Kolbow with an assist by Olivia Arkell.
The Tommies fought harder in the second period, outshooting their opponent 17-16, putting the fans on the edge of their seat.
“We kept on getting shots, I think that’s how we got our momentum,” Hannula said. “Sadly, none of them went in, but, obviously we were disappointed none of them didn’t go in, but it didn’t make us (feel down).”
“It fired us up more,” senior defenseman Demi Cooper added.
Both teams played strong in the third, each allowing only five shots. The Tommies battled with the Pipers until the final buzzer.
Despite the tough loss, the team praised Cooley’s performance as goalie.
“Eryn is going to be a great goaltender,” Palkowski said. “She’d probably be starting for many many teams this year, and she played well. Unfortunately, we made a couple D-Zone mistakes and they capitalized…and just never recovered.”
With the loss, the Tommies will play No. 6 Adrian College for third place Saturday at St. Thomas Ice Arena at 3 p.m.
“We just need to hit that reset button, get some sleep tonight, know tomorrow the sun’s going to come up. We got a game to finish third in the country, and that’s something to be proud of,” Palkowski said. “I think they’ll be ready.”
Matthew Curry can be reached at curr1523@stthomas.edu.