Shoveling in a trio of goals, all in the first period, Makenna Mueller lifted the Minnesota River girls to a 5-1 win over visiting Windom on Monday.
It was the first hat trick in the senior's career.
“It’s always fun to score, and then you get two, and it’s in the palm of your hand, like right there, so when it happened it was just so exciting,” she said.
Taking a rebound from eighth grader Maren Swenson’s shot, Mueller dumped in her first goal from just in front of the net with 10:05 left. Also right in front of the webbing, her second score came 31 seconds later and started with a Noelle Simonette-to-McKenna Andresen pass and ricochet off the goalie.
With 8:58 remaining, senior Callie Voeltz scored unassisted. The Eagles managed to score with 4:12 left, but with 51 seconds before the break, Mueller scored again, this time from the right end zone circle after an Andresen pass.
“My teammate was coming around the net, and I was screaming from the slot, and she passed up, and it was right on,” Mueller said.
The goal put the Bulldogs comfortably in front 4-1 during the first intermission.
After a scoreless middle period and with a Windom player in lockup on a tripping infraction, Andresen scored with 6:42 left in the game to put the finishing touches on the triumph. Swenson assisted.
Earlier in the third period, Windom also got caught interfering for the first of the game’s two penalties.
The Bulldogs outshot Windom 12-5 in the first period, 8-4 in the second frame and 14-3 in the third. The Bulldogs' sophomore goalkeeper Annika Magelee had 11 saves.
The Minnesota River girls, now leading the Big South with a 2-0 record (4-2 overall), start a four-game road stand with a trip to conference rival Fairmont tonight (Tuesday). The Cardinals will be looking for their first win of the season.
On Saturday, the Bulldogs bus to Willmar for a non-conference game. Next week, they play another non-conference contest in Albert Lea on Tuesday before heading to Waseca on Thursday for a Big South matchup.
The Bulldogs return to their home ice on Saturday, December 9 for a 1:00 pm game against conference foe Worthington.
Waseca beat Worthington 4-0 and Fairmont 7-0 but fell to Windom 4-3.
Above: Makenna Mueller goes after a loose puck.
Jewel Factor guides the puck away from the boards.
McKenna Andresen and Noelle Simonette congratulate Makenna Mueller after the first of her three goals.
Makenna Mueller negotiates her way toward the Windom net.