The Multipurpose Arena at the Woodman’s Sports & Convention Center was roaring on Saturday, Oct. 31 as Buccaneers women’s hockey hosted the University of Dubuque Spartans for Beloit’s second ever regular season debut. Friends and family members filled the stands and glass with cheers, some even traveling from across North America to catch a dominant Bucs win on home ice.
The Bucs took some time to warm up offensively in the first period, as they were outshot 8-7 by the Spartans. Despite the home team’s lack of offense early in the game, the defense came ready to go with four blocked shots and multiple shot deflections through the first 20 minutes. Overall, the Bucs’ defensive play was pretty solid throughout the entire game, but for anything that slipped through the cracks, Alex Venning’28 was there to stop it.
Venning, a junior transfer from Utica University, was the star of the game with a 31-save shutout in her first regular season outing for Beloit. She posted a 0.931 save percentage through fifteen games played last season, and her previous experience in Division III hockey will give her an edge as a starter alongside first-year goaltenders Dani Lerma’30 and Dani Egeland’30. Venning’s awareness of the puck in the defensive zone and her decision-making of when to cover a shot and stop the play were vital for the Bucs to capitalize on this game. Finally, some of her saves were downright heart-stopping, including multiple tough glove saves that she managed to corral.
Before the game, alternate captain Natalie Gurr’28 noted the team’s excitement about the incoming class of players this season, including Venning and a crowd of nine first-years. “We have a strong drive, and I’d say the incoming class also brings a lot of offensive potential,” said Gurr. Her statement rang true during the second period, as first-year Hailey Chady’30 scored the first goal of the Bucs’ season off a rebound from Addison Gruhlke’29. That strong drive was also evident in persistent shots on goal from Gruhlke, Natasha Ludwig’29, and Britni Detsch’29, who each posted three attempts throughout the game’s 60 minutes. As the Bucs turned the heat up on offense, their overall team play began to look more cohesive through the whole middle frame, demonstrating high potential for the rest of the season ahead.
Beloit spent plenty of time in the defensive zone in the last 20 minutes as Dubuque put another 13 shots on goal in attempts to tie up the game. None of their shots rang home, so they pulled their goaltender to put an extra attacker on the ice with about two and a half minutes remaining, hoping that a 6-on-5 situation could allow them a goal against Venning’s netminding prowess. At that point, however, Madi Hoffman’29 sealed the Bucs victory with an empty net goal with 48 seconds remaining in the third period.
Looking ahead, some of the team’s young offensive talents will hope to improve upon the power play in upcoming games. Beloit was 0-4 for scoring on the player advantage, and recorded very few shots during those eight total minutes of 5-on-4 play. Luckily, the Bucs’ penalty kill units matched those of the Spartans, once again showing the team’s defensive prowess. Dubuque only posted four shots on goal throughout their three power plays. Beloit will also continue to lean on this matchup’s starting lineup in the future, including Hoffman, Gurr, captain Kylie Schryer’28, Hannah Chady’28, and Makenzee Kostiuk‘29, all of whom logged plenty of time on the ice during this game. Finally, as Beloit continues to build team cohesion in all areas of the ice, their transitions into the offensive zone should improve (an area where they struggled some against Dubuque).
Buccaneers women’s hockey will be back in action for a weekend series with Milwaukee School of Engineering in Janesville on Friday, Nov. 6 and in Milwaukee on Saturday, Nov. 7.
Featured image: Norah Owens’29
Leave a Reply