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HANCOCK -- After playing in a hard-fought 4-1 loss Saturday night, Matt Marchel, head coach of the Finlandia Lions women's hockey team, knew his team would be in difficult waters playing a second game 18 and a half hours later. To make matters worse, surrendering four goals in a stretch of 3:43 did little to help the Lions as they fell to the Wisconsin-Superior Yellowjackets, 10-1, Sunday.
"The writing was kind of on the wall that we were going to be in our own zone and gassed," said Marchel. "They competed. We lost our mental game, but they competed for what gas we had left in the tank."
The Lions, who only dressed 13 skaters due to injuries and other extenuating circumstances, put up 15 shots on the night and found the back of the back of the net on the power play, but they could not get anything going after the Yellowjackets responded just 2:02 later.
Finlandia's lone tally came off the stick of sophomore center Abby Kolek. After freshman winger Malone Heibert moved the puck back to sophomore defenseman Rebecca Lilly at the left point, Lilly wired a wrist shot that Yellowjackets goaltender Catherine Johnson had deflecting away. The puck bounced right to Kolek, who wasted little time potting it into a gaping net at 11:15 of the middle frame.
The game changed back in the Yellowjackets' favor just 2:02 later when Kaleigh Martinson scored the first of her three goals in the period. Lauren Niska fired the initial shot, which Lions goalie Sarah Gundry stopped. The net was dislodged during a scrum for the rebound and Martinson skated in and poked the puck home.
Marchel was displeased the goal counted despite the net being off kilter.
"I lost my cool and we lost our heads a little bit," he said. "Part of that has to do with our mental focus. In the game of hockey, you lose your legs first and your mind goes after that. It's a product of us being off for so long."
Over the next four minutes, things went from bad to worse as Martinson potted two more goals, one on the power play and another at the 17:00 mark shorthanded. The Martinson's third of the night followed a shorthanded marker by Amanda Sergent just 31 seconds earlier when she skated down the left board and beat Gundry with a wrist shot.
The Yellowjackets (6-9-1 overall) took a 1-0 lead at 9:27 into the contest when Sergent fired a shot from the left boards that snuck its way through Gundry and into the net. The visitors struck again at 15:45 when Ty Bischoff wired a hard shot from the top of the right circle over Gundry's glove.
In the third, Niska, C.C. Hayes and Jenna Curtis all added to the Yellowjackets lead before the final buzzer sounded.
The Lions (0-15 overall) are back in action at home this weekend as they play host to Sault College for a two-game exhibition series.
MISSING TALENT
The Lions were without junior winger Kait Ryynanen, who is still recovering from an injury suffered in the first half of the season and Brenna Ceglar and Lauren Monger who were both out due to academic issues.
Scoring
UW-Superior 2 5 3 – 10
Finlandia 0 1 0 – 1
First period
1, UWS, Amanda Sergent (Ty Bischoff, Amber Heidenreich), 9:27
2, UWS, Bischoff (Jenna Byfuglien), 15:45
Second period
3, UWS, Molly Shelton (Bischoff, Byfuglien), 5:01
4, FU, Abby Kolek (Rebecca Lilly, Malone Heibert), PP, 11:15
5, UWS, Kaleigh Martinson (Lauren Niska, Shelton), 13:17
6, UWS, Martinson (Mandy Tomlinson, Shelton), 14:53
7, UWS, Sergent (Heidenreich), SH, 16:29
8, UWS, Martinson (Shelton), SH, 17:00
Third period
9, UWS, Niska (Martinson, Shelton), 11:36
10, UWS, C.C. Hayes (Katie Montrose), 12:19
11, UWS, Jenna Curtis, 18:54
Saves
UWS, Johnson 4 7 3 – 14
FU, Gundry 14 15 14 – 43
Power plays
UWS: 2/3; FU: 1/4
Penalties
UWS: 5/10; FU: 4/8