The Northland College Women's Hockey team faced off against Concordia-Moorhead at 2pm today. The Jills dropped the first game of the weekend 5-2 yesterday, but rallied back with a 2-0 win today to split the series. 

The Jills didn't have a great start with just two shots in the first period. However, the team battled through and escaped the period tied at zero. Head Coach, Kelly Rider, said, "We didn't create much in the first, but our effort was consistent. We really focused on taking more of an initiative and having more confidence for the second."

The second period was much more back and forth. At 3:52 of the second Jojo Cano got her own rebound off a two on one to put the Jills ahead 1-0. Matula and Hadway were credited with the assists. Both the Cobbers and Jills each registered 7 shots in the period and the Jills were leading in faceoff wins at the end of two. Kylie Wickiser also came up big for the Jills in the second with a handful of blocked shots. Goaltender, Maggie Cusey also added to the team effort with big saves to keep the Cobbers scoreless through two periods. Rider added, "Our second period today was full team play. The shots were even, we were winning at the dot, we blocked shots, and our goaltender made great saves. Everyone contributed and we played well in all three zones."

The Cobbers came out and controlled major portions of the third period, but Maggie Cusey made crucial saves to keep the Jills in the lead, including an incredible toe save. Rider spoke about Cusey's contributions and said that "Maggie made two or three critical saves for us. They weren't just great saves, but came at crucial times for us. She was big and dependable when we needed her most today." The Jills called timeout about halfway through the third and a few minutes later the Cobbers called one of their own. The Jills continued to play with grit and with just 33 seconds left Ally Covert scored an empty net goal from center ice to seal the victory. Sam Scott had the assist. 

After the 2-0 win, Rider said "Before each game we set three goals for ourselves. Today we met all three goals and it resulted in a win. I'm proud of the all around team effort. This was a true team win." Cusey added, "We played really well defensively. Our forwards blocked a lot of shots and our defensemen cleared out in front of the net for me. Overall my defensemen kept me confident today and I had a lot of trust in them." 

The Jills, now 1-1 on the season, enter conference play next weekend when they face Adrian College in their home opener. This is the first season in the NCHA for the Jills. Saturday's game starts at 7:30pm at the Bay Area Civic Center after the Lumberjacks host Aurora University. Sunday's game is a 2pm start.