ASHLAND, Wis. – The Northland College Women's Hockey team dropped its season opener 11-0 to No. 11 University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Friday night in Ashland, Wis., in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play.
 
The LumberJills had the first shot of the game 27 seconds in from freshman Kiera Fairnington. The Blugold broke up the with their first goal two and a half minutes in. Northland had a few more cracks at the net but could not get past Alexa Backmann. UWEC expanded its lead before the first period ended.
 
Five minutes into the second period UW-Eau Claire found the back of the net again this time on a power play. The next time Northland was down a skater they killed off the penalty only allowing three shots on target. Before the period ended the Blugolds added two more goals.
 
Northland was on the powerplay early in the final period. After allowing a short-handed goal the Jills put pressure on the UW-Eau Claire goalie. Kennedy Gruhlke and Kyleigh Moffatt both recorded shots on target. Julia Fussy had the last Northland shot of the game.
 
Fussy, Fairnington, and Gruhlke led NC in shots all tallying two in the 60 minutes of action. Karsyn McQuaker and Moffatt had the other two shots for the Jills. Kylie Schryer won eight of her faceoffs in the game. Northland blocked 14 shots with Yvonne Durfee leading the way with four and Hannah Chady was behind her with three. Zoe Laming made the start in the net and made 45 saves.
 
The LumberJills are back in action tomorrow (Saturday) for a 2 p.m., matchup with No. 1 University of Wisconsin-River Falls.
 
Northland College is an NCAA Division III institution located in Ashland, WI. The LumberJacks and LumberJills sponsor 14 varsity sports and compete in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference, Midwest Lacrosse Conference, and the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.