Brian Moos / Program Director

Despite controlling play throughout the contest, Crush Girl’s Hockey dropped their road game to the Storm’n Sabres. The Crush outshot the Storm’n Sabres 45-20, but ran into stellar play from sophomore goalie Abigail Massmann who had a 44 save performance.

Scoring opened with senior Molly Burkstrand of St. Cloud getting the only Crush goal of the night. Through the second and third periods the Crush would smother Massmann and the Storm’n Sabres. The Crush would put 27 shots on goal through those two periods. However, late in the second senior Brayley VanDenBerg would bring life to her Storm’n Sabres with an equalizer.

As the third period went along, the Crush would be on the doorstep of a goal many times. It would only take a late two-on-one for the Storm’n Sabres to find the winner. Off a Crush turnover on the Storm’n Sabres blueline, Brayley VanDenBerg would collect the puck and start a break toward Crush goalie Jordan Bovy. VanDenBerg would slot her shot above Bovy’s shoulder to grab her squad’s first lead of the game with 37 seconds left.

The Crush would try a late push with an extra skater, looking to send the game to overtime, but the comeback fell short. The Crush are now 1-5-1 to start the 2024-25 season, they will host a hot Brainerd-Little Falls team this Thursday at 7 p.m.