Saints score early to topple Lawrence

APPLETON, Wis. — The 15th-ranked College of St. Scholastica struck early in each period Friday and rode that to a 6-2 Northern Collegiate Hockey Association victory over Lawrence University at the Appleton Family Ice Center.

The Saints (10-4-2, 8-3-0 NCHA) scored just 2:40 into the first period, scored a pair of goals in the first minutes of the second period and scored just 1:18 into the third.

Dylan Nowakowski scored twice for St. Scholastica, and Matt Moore scored both goals for Lawrence (6-9-1, 5-5-1).

Tyler Bruggeman stopped 28 shots for the Saints, including a barrage on a pair of Lawrence power plays. Mattias Soderqvist made 37 saves for the Vikings.

Kris McKinzie scored off a rebound less than three minutes into the game to give St. Scholastica a 1-0 lead. The score stayed that way until early in the second period.

Michael Spring scored 1:30 into the second period, and Josh Hansen scored 29 seconds later to give St. Scholastica a 3-0 advantage.

Moore got Lawrence on a board with a goal at the 9:53 mark of the second with assists from Renato Engler and Brandon Boelter.

The Vikings were still down 3-1 entering the third period when Kale Derkson scored just 1:18 into the period for a 4-1 lead.

Nowakowski scored the first of his two goals at the 7:12 mark, but Moore found the back of the net again at 10:51 to trim the margin to 5-2. Josh Koepplinger and Ryan Eardley picked up assists on that goal for the Vikings.

Lawrence had a power-play chance less than three minutes later, but Bruggeman was outstanding in turning the Vikings away. Nowakowski then added a goal with just 25 seconds remaining.

The teams will wrap up the series on Saturday afternoon.

Box score