The Purdue Northwest ACHA D1 Women's Hockey team made program history over the weekend, earning its first-ever series sweep with a pair of victories over Aquinas College. The Lions opened the home-and-home series with a thrilling 3-2 overtime win at The Kube on Friday before completing the sweep with a 5-2 road victory on Saturday night.
The Basics
- Records: Purdue Northwest (3-3), Aquinas College (1-5)
- Location: The Kube (Game 1); Aquinas College (Game 2)
Inside The Numbers
- Sophomore Emma Durand (Notre-Dame, Manitoba/École Regional Notre Dame) led the Lions' offensive effort across the weekend, recording three goals and two assists between the two victories.
- Freshman Riley Reed (Desbarats, Ontario/Central Algoma Secondary School) scored in both games, including the opening goal for PNW in Game 1 and a third-period tally in Game 2.
- Freshman Alanna Dunks (Green Bay, Wis./West De Pere) delivered a strong performance in Saturday's win, finishing with one goal and two assists.
- Senior Evi Allerding (Munster, Ind./Munster) made 42 saves on 44 shots in Friday's overtime victory, while freshman Allie Attema (Thunder Bay, Ontario) stopped 42 of 44 shots in Saturday's road win.
- PNW outshot Aquinas 47-44 in both contests, finishing with 94 shots across the weekend.
- The Lions went 1-for-9 on the power play over the two games, while holding Aquinas to 1-for-11.
The Breakdown
Game 1: PNW 3, Aquinas 2 (OT)
- The Lions opened the home-and-home series with a dramatic overtime victory at The Kube on Friday night, earning a 3-2 win over Aquinas.
- After a scoreless first period, Reed put PNW on the board at 5:13 of the second period, with Durand recording the assist.
- Aquinas answered with two goals to take a 2-1 lead, but the Lions responded late in the period as Durand scored at 19:45 off an assist from junior Petra Cernicek (Jackson, Wyo./Jackson Hole) to even the contest at 2-2.
- Neither team found the back of the net in the third period, sending the game into overtime.
- Just 47 seconds into the extra period, Durand found the game-winning goal off a pass from freshman Payton Burnett (Oro-Medonte, Ontario/Twin Lakes Secondary School), securing the 3-2 victory and giving the Lions the opening win of the series.
- Allerding anchored the defensive effort, stopping 42 shots in the overtime win as PNW finished with 47 shots on goal.
Game 2: PNW 5, Aquinas 2
- PNW carried its momentum into Saturday night, scoring five goals to earn a 5-2 road victory and complete the program's first-ever sweep.
- Aquinas opened the scoring at 9:57 of the first period, but Burnett answered for the Lions at 14:53 to tie the game.
- Freshman Ainslie Zubec (Winnipeg, Manitoba/College Sturgeon Heights Collegiate) gave PNW its first lead at 19:07 of the opening period, converting on the power play with an assist from Dunks.
- Dunks extended the advantage to 3-1 at 17:50 of the second period, with Durand picking up the assist. Aquinas scored late in the period to cut the deficit to one heading into the third.
- Reed scored at 5:28 of the third period to restore a two-goal cushion, and Durand sealed the 5-2 win with an empty-net goal at 19:08, assisted by Dunks.
- Attema made 42 saves on 44 shots to help the Lions close out the road victory, while PNW finished with 47 shots on goal.
- The back-to-back victories marked a historic milestone for the Lions, who secured the first series sweep in program history.
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