Finding team identity on the ice

    Women’s hockey pulls out a win and a draw over the weekend

    More stories from Sam Martinez

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    Photo by FILE PHOTO

    The UW-Eau Claire women’s hockey team was victorious at home and tied on the road in a home-away split with UW-Superior over the weekend.

    With the result, the Blugolds improved their record to 3-1-2, with one of the wins coming in conference play.

    In Friday’s home game, junior Mariah Czech scored in the second period and freshman Holly Turnbull scored the game-winner in the third period to give the Blugolds a 2-1 win.

    Czech also scored the Blugolds lone goal in the Saturday draw in Superior.

    Head coach Erik Strand said the team did things right over the weekend by staying in system, but the team needs to improve at generating offense.

    The team does not have one key player that can take over a game, Strand said, so the team needs to work hard to be on the same page like they were last weekend.

    “Our identity is starting to come together,” Strand said. “We’re a blue-collar hard-working team.”

    Strand said the team has been worked to cultivate their identity by continuing to practice for two hours each day, which is long for this part of the season.

    The team is set to face UW-River Falls this weekend in a home-away split, and Strand said he is excited as the Falcons are considered one of the better teams in the west.

    Although the coaching staff has looked at the Falcon’s tendencies as a team, Strand said the Blugolds need to focus on their game to have success this weekend.

    The puck will drop for the Blugolds at 3 p.m. Friday at Hobbs Ice Center, and then at 2 p.m. Saturday as they travel to face the River Falls.