Interview with Tara Frey | Interview with Jenna Traut

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – In their last home game as Blazers, seniors Tara Frey and Alli O'Brien each scored their first goals of the year. Fellow senior Jenna Traut backed-up those goals with a season-high 46 saves as exceptional play from the senior class helped the College of Saint Benedict hockey team roll to a 5-3 victory over the second-place St. Thomas Tommies Friday night at the MAC.
 
Saint Ben's President Mary Hinton was named an honorary Blazer coach for the night and cheered the team on from the bench as the Blazers defeated Saint Ben's biggest rival. The win also marks the first time the Blazers have beaten the Tommies in at least ten years.
 
Just two minute into the game, sophomore defender Hannah Esselman put the Blazers on the board. With the Tommies on the penalty kill, she grabbed a loose puck off a rebound and quickly shot it past Tommie goalie Taylor Nielson.
 
At the 13:59 mark, junior forward Siri Berg-Moberg made it a two-goal Blazer lead off assists from junior forward Liz Hermes and sophomore forward Allison Kirk. That goal was Berg-Moberg's third of the year.
 
Just 13 seconds after the ensuing faceoff, the Tommies came up with a goal to answer when senior defender Dani Lobejko took a pass from Heidi Winiecki and cut the Blazer lead to 2-1.
 
The goal-scoring chaos continued 21 seconds after the Tommie goal, as Tara Frey scored unassisted to give the Blazers a 3-1 lead over the Tommies with five minutes left in the first period. That goal was Frey's first of the year.
 
With 45 seconds left in the period, the Tommies poked a loose puck free, and had a two-on-one going the other way. Before they could take a shot however, senior forward Megan Brettingen outskated both of them to poke the puck free, and preserve the Blazers' 3-1 lead heading into the first intermission.
 
The big red scoring machine continued to roll through the second period. Five minutes into the period senior forward Alli O'Brien took a pass from sophomore defender Kacee Medved and fired it past Tommie goalie Paige Kittelson. That goal was O'Brien's first of her senior campaign.
 
At the 16:49 point in that period, junior forward Aly Hoffman became the fifth Blazer to score, scoring her third goal of the year off an assist from Medved. That goal was Hoffman's third of the year, while the assist was Medved's second of the game.
 
Senior goalie Jenna Traut made several key saves down the stretch, and the Blazers took a 5-3 lead into the second intermission.
 
The Blazers held the Tommies scoreless in third, except for two desperation goals late in the third period, and won the game 5-3.
 
Traut was a brick wall in net all night, stopping Tommie breakaways and tipped shots to keep the Blazer lead secure. She had 46 saves, obliterating her previous season-high of 38.
 
Blazer hockey returns to action Saturday afternoon, when they travel to St. Paul to play the Tommies on their home ice. Face-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.