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 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.
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The breakdown
Game 1: PNW 3, Aquinas 2 (OT)
The Lions opened the home-and-home series with an 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.
Up next
Purdue Northwest continues its inaugural season when the team hits the road to take on Sault College in a two-game road series on Thursday, November 12, and Friday, November 13.
