Tag: Gustavus Adolphus

O’Connor part of unbeatable Falcons goaltending trio

By Jim den Hollander 

Editor/Publisher 

Saukhockey.info 

Prairie du Sac native and former Sauk Prairie Eagles goaltender Jordan O’Connor has been nothing less than stellar this season with the River Falls Falcons Womens hockey team.  

But on the Falcons, currently ranked fourth in the USCHO Division 3 Womens Hockey poll, that just makes her one-third of an awesome goaltending machine. 

The Falcons mixed Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Conference (WIAC) conference and non-conference games in the past two weekends collecting four wins and one tough defeat against #3 ranked Eau Claire Blugolds.  

Jordan O’Connor

O’Connor and the team’s other two goaltenders, senior Sami Miller, from Blaine, MN and sophomore Pistol Cowden from Amherst, WI and a former goaltender for the Wisconsin Valley Union WIAA team have all played a part in four shutouts in those five games, including three in a row. 

The first WIAC match saw the Falcons hitting the road and collecting a 7-0 win against the host Stevens Point Pointers. Cowden stopped all 17 shots she faced to collect the goose egg on Nov. 12.  

Callie Hoff, a senior from Hermantown, MN and Kora Torkelson, a senior from Thief River Falls, MN both fired a pair of goals for the Falcons with others added by Kiana Gilbraith, a senior from Fargo, ND; Maddie McCollins, a Maple Grove, MN junior and Alisen Carothers, a freshman from Buffalo, MN. 

The following night, the Falcons returned home to Hunt Arena and O’Connor collected a nine-save shutout in an 8-0 win against the Northland Lumberjills. 

Torkelson scored another pair along with Alex Hantge, a sophomore from Hutchinson, MN and Brooke Walters, a junior from Sartell, MN. Hoff and McCollins scored the other Falcons goals. 

Miller played the next two games, collecting a 14-save shutout in a 6-0 non-conference win on home ice against the St. Scholastica Saints on Nov. 16, then facing the toughest test so far against the Blugolds. 

Miller matched Stephanie Martin in the Eau Claire goal shot for shot until late in the second period when Emma Peterson scored her first of a pair for the home team. 

In the non-conference win, Bailey Olson, a freshman from Willmar, MN scored twice with others for Hoff, McCollins, Hantge and Ellie Brice, a Freshman from St. Croix Falls, WI 

The Falcons got back on track on Tuesday (Nov. 23) as Cowden returned for a second consecutive shutout in a 3-0 non-Conference win against the St. Olaf Oles.  

Erin Olson, a senior from Lakeville, MN; Sophia Leong, a senior from Apple Valley, MN and Alyson Niebur, a senior from Isanti, MN fired the Falcons goals.  

In all, the Falcons goaltenders have combined for six shutouts in eight games and an unreal three goals against in eight games so far this season. 

The Falcons will play a set of five non-conference contests, all against MIAC opponents beginning Dec. 8 at St. Peter MN against Gustavus Adolphus. 

Teske looks ahead to second season with Auggies

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

It’s already tough for a young hockey player to make their debut on an NCAA Division 3 team. Throw in the delays caused from a pandemic and a team that ultimately was unable to play in a number of those games and it was a tough debut for Julianna Teske.

Julianna Teske

The 19-year-old Reedsburg native played much of her youth hockey with the Madison Capitols and moved to Warroad, Minnesota with her family during her high school tenure, appearing in the State tournament in all four seasons with the varsity girls Warriors.

This past season, Teske, known by most as ‘Julz,’ began her college career with the Augsburg Augies out of the Twin Cities.

She played in all 11 games for the Auggies and like the team, she improved with each contest.

The team dropped its first three before undergoing the postponement of cancellation of its next half dozen games.

After 19 days of delays, the Auggies celebrated its return to play with its closest result, going to overtime before dropping a 3-2 decision to Gustavus Adolphus on home ice Feb. 25.

The Auggies turned a corner though and put together a tie and two wins in its next four games and a 3-2-2 record the rest of the way.

The most lopsided win was a 7-3 win at Ed Saugestad Rink in the Augsburg Ice Arena and Teske scored her lone goal of the season, tying the game at 1-1 in the first period.

In all Teske, an Exercise Science major at Augsburg compiled a goal on six shots and made her presence felt in her own end with six blocked shots. She sat just one minor penalty and finished the season with a -3 overall rating.

With a season under her belt, watch for Teske to be a bigger factor on both ends of the rink. The Auggies will begin preparation when school gets under way for a full 2021-22 season which begins with a scrimmage against the UW-River Falls Falcons at Hunt Arena in River Falls Oct. 23.

First regular season game will also be against the Falcons, on home ice Nov. 4 and the first Minnesota Interscholastic Athletic Conference (MIAC) game will be at Tria Rink in St. Paul against the Hamline Pipers Nov. 1.

Anyone looking for a close opportunity to see Teske in action could make the relatively short trip to Stevens Point for a game Dec. 10, Green Bay for a game against St. Norbert the following day, or a pair of games in Winona, Minn., against St. Mary’s Feb. 11-12, 2022.