Finlandia forward Libby Plath looks to defend against a pass during a game earlier this season at the Houghton County Arena in Hancock. (Photo courtesy of Finlandia University)

MEQUON, Wis. — After playing Lake Forest last weekend, the Finlandia Lions women’s hockey team’s schedule doesn’t get much easier this week. They will face the Concordia Falcons, who currently sit fourth in the NCHA standings.

The Lions did some good things against the Foresters last weekend. Saturday night, they trailed 3-0 after two periods, before the Foresters poured in four goals in the third to come away with a 7-1 win. Sunday, just like the men’s game, which was played prior to the women’s game, the two teams were tied 0-0 heading into the third period. In this game, however, the Foresters struck four times in the third to win, 4-0.

Lions coach Mike Kuruc felt good about the effort both nights for 40 minutes. The only problem he had with it is that hockey is a 60-minute game.

“Sixty minutes is a hockey game,” he said. “Everybody has one level that they play at somewhere deep down inside of them. Right below that is fifth gear. You get to fifth gear when you realize why you’re playing hockey, when you use that motivation to play harder than you’ve played at all. We weren’t able to find that on both nights, which was tough.”

Saturday night, one positive to take away from the contest was that sophomore forward Libby Plath scored her first career goal at the 13:20 mark of the third period. A woman never afraid to bring her lunch pail to work, according to Kuruc, Plath works extremely hard, so he was proud of her for finally breaking through.

“I don’t know if I’ve heard our team get that loud,” he said. “I don’t know if I’ve heard a team get that loud a long time. Lib’s a real heart and soul kid. So it was awesome to see her score.”

Kuruc feels that he has several players who work as hard as Plath does, and he hopes that her goal will help drive them to find a way to get themselves on the scoresheet.

“We’ve got a lot of kids like that on our roster,” he said. “They come every day and they work their hardest. They’re not there to stir the pot. They’re not there to complain. When you see those kids finally get rewarded, that’s awesome.”

With the two losses, the Lions fell to 0-11 on the season and 0-6 in NCHA play, which has been a familiar spot for the Lions more often than not. Kuruc has been holding team meetings throughout the week to try to find new ways to motivate his players.

Scouting the Falcons

The Falcons enter the weekend 6-3-1 overall and 4-2 in NCHA play after getting swept last weekend by No. 15 St. Norbert. The sweep marked the first time this season that the Falcons have lost back-to-back games.

While Concordia does not feature high-skilled forwards like Aurora’s Darci Matson, they do have a pair of young forwards who are off to great starts. Freshman Makayla Spejcher has a team-high seven goals and 10 points in 10 games. Sophomore Amanda Bauer has enjoyed success alongside Spejcher, as she has a team-high seven assists and 10 points in 10 games.

“This weekend, we have a CUW team that plays incredibly hard,” said Kuruc. “The difference between them and some of the teams higher than them in the list, is the fact that they might not have the players who have as much skill offensively.

“They’re going to outwork everybody in this league. That’s just what they do.”

The Falcons’ real strength is in net, where senior Annalina Van Hercke has seen action in all 10 games they have played this season. She sports a 6-3-1 record with a 1.69 goals against average and a .947 save percentage.