Visiting Austin was easy pickins for the Minnesota River hockey girls on Monday. The Bulldogs rolled over the non-conference Packers a dozen to zilch.
Makenna Mueller assisted the fourth goal, made by Noell Simonette in the second period.
Meanwhile, on the other half of the ice, Jewel Factor (above) helped keep the puck out of the Bulldog webbing.
With an 8-3 record, the Bulldogs are tied with Luverne for third place in the Big South Conference. Marshall, 9-2, currently holds the top spot. New Ulm, 9-4, is second. Overall, the Bulldogs are 12-10-0.
Mueller indirectly assisted the second goal, on a power play and by Simonette, when the Bulldogs beat host Fairmont 5-1 back on November 27. The Bulldogs got blanked in the next three games, all on the road, by non-conference Willmar and Albert Lea and conference rival Waseca.
But they came back to beat visiting Big South member Worthington 6-0 on December 9. Mueller assisted the Bulldogs’ fifth goal, which Simonette scored.
New Ulm avenged an earlier season loss when they came to town and beat the Bulldogs 3-1 on December 14. But the Bulldogs bounced back two days later when they edged visiting conference foe Marshall 2-1. Mueller assisted Piper Winters on the winning goal.
From there, the Bulldogs went into another road stand and lost all three games by just a goal, first to non-conference Hutchinson, then to non-conference Mankato West in overtime, and finally conference rival Windom, which avenged an earlier season loss with an overtime win.
Factor assisted Macey Portner in the Bulldog’s second goal against Mankato West.
Back on the Le Sueur ice on January 8, the Bulldogs dominated Fairmont 7-0 in a Big South matchup. They lost at Waconia 2-6 but last week at home, they beat Luverne 5-4 and non-conference Litchfield-Dassel-Cokato 3-1.
Mueller started the sequence of the winning goal against Luverne, which was scored by McKenna Andreson and directly assisted by Claire Hathaway.
Mueller has six goals and eight assists on the year.
The Bulldogs have a chance to move up in the conference when they road trip to Marshall on Saturday. They will look to avenge their loss to Waseca when they return to their own ice on Thursday, February 1 in a 7:00 game.
Makenna Mueller uncoils a swing at Austin’s net.
Makenna Mueller guides the puck down the ice during the game against Austin.