The St. Thomas women’s hockey team couldn’t find the back of the net in a 3-0 losing effort to Bemidji State University, taking 31 shots on goal to Bemidji’s 33 during their home opener Friday night at St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights.
The Tommies (0-3, 0-3 WCHA) had multiple break away opportunities against Bemidji (1-0, 1-0 WCHA) but couldn’t find an opening for a goal.
“The bottom line is, if you’re going to win, you have to score goals,” coach Joel Johnson said. “Even though I felt like we battled and competed, we’ve got to find a way to put the puck in the net.”
First-year forward Lauren Stenslie found a breakaway opportunity with five minutes remaining in the first period, weaving through three Beaver defenders. Stenslie took a shot aiming for the five hole, but it was quickly shut down by goaltender Kerigan Dowhy, who had 31 saves on the night.
The Tommies ended up letting in two goals in the first period by Beavers forward Paige Beebe who found the net with one second remaining.
“I feel like we played timid in the first period,” Johnson said. “We were surfing around hoping nothing bad would happen instead of going after it.”
Redshirt senior goaltender Alexa Dobchuk added to her 33 saves on her record after a strong game against Ohio State University last weekend with 93 saves. She said the team felt excitement being at home for the first time.
“It was nice to come out and see so many people supporting us and seeing us get out there and give it everything we’ve got,” Dobchuk said.
The Tommies ended on a strong note in the third period pushing more offensively down at the Beavers net.
Moving forward, Johnson sees this game as a learning experience and not an excuse.
“Even though there’s a lot of excuses that are built for us going Division III to Division I and playing in a tough conference, I just dont think it helps to use excuses,” Johnson said. “I want a program dedicated to competing and we didn’t do that tonight.”
The Tommies will face Bemidji at 3 p.m. Saturday for the second game of the series at St. Thomas Ice Arena.
Olivia Paradise can be reached at para4336@stthomas.edu.
Jonathan Rosario can be reached at rosa8273@stthomas.edu.