The UW-Eau Claire women’s hockey team played two close games this past weekend and both were decided in overtime.

Friday night the Blugolds lost 5-4 to St. Mary’s (Minn.). Saturday they rebounded though, and defeated Bethel University (Minn.) 3-2. The Blugolds improved to 3-1 on the season with the weekend split.

Friday night the Blugolds jumped out to the early lead on the first goal of sophomore Kelli Johnson’s career. The Blugolds carried that lead into the second period, but four minutes in, St. Mary’s tied it up. The Blugolds took the lead back on a goal by senior Lauren Havard.

The Cardinals scored two consecutive goals though to take a 3-2 lead. But continuing the trend of back and forth goals, the Blugolds took the lead back on two consecutive goals of their own.

With slightly more than two minutes to go in the game, St. Mary’s tied it up to send the game to overtime. It didn’t take long for the Cardinals to end the game in overtime as they scored just over two minutes into the overtime period.

After the tough loss, the Blugolds were able to rebound Saturday night and win an overtime game of their own.

Bethel jumped out to an early lead, but the Blugolds tied the game with freshman Lynne Erspamer’s first collegiate goal. The Blugolds then took the lead on a short-handed goal by freshman Toni Simones.

But with less than five minutes in the game, Bethel tied it up and sent the game to overtime. This time the Blugolds took care of business. With a minute left and the game looking like a possible tie, Havard came up big for her team and gave them the victory.

Freshman Morgan Pieper earned her second career victory in goal stopping 27 shots on the night. Friday night sophomore Danika Porter was in goal and stopped 23 shots for the Blugolds.

The Blugolds will return home next weekend for a series with Concordia (Wis.). Faceoff will be at 7 p.m. both Friday and Saturday night at Hobbs Ice Center.

-The Spectator staff