Austin girls’ hockey edged by state-ranked Faribault 3-2 Saturday

The Austin Packers girls’ hockey team was looking to spring an upset Saturday at the Faribault Ice Arena against the No. 8 in Class A ranked Falcons, as the Packers held a 2-0 lead heading into the third period.  But, as the adage says, the toughest lead to protect in hockey is a two-goal lead, and three third-period goals, two of them from leading scorer Olivia Williamson, a Brown University commit led the Falcons to a 3-2 come-from-behind win.

Austin struck first in the opening period as Hailee Schaefer lit the lamp unassisted at 15:21 to put the Packers in front 1-0.  Isikiyah Hemann tallied the only goal of the second period at 12:50 with assists to Jordyn McCormack and Kate Holtz to make the score 2-0, but the third period belonged to Faribault as Williamson scored early at 1:48 to cut the Austin lead to 2-1.  Williamson then assisted on the tying goal by Haley Lang at 12:28, and Lang then earned a helper on Williamson’s goal at 15:32 to give the Falcons the win.

Shelby Davidson was strong between the pipes for Austin, as she turned away 37 of the 40 shots she faced, while Faribault goalie Mikayla Bohner made 24 saves in facing 26 shots.

Austin is now 4-9 in the Big 9 Conference at 6-10 overall on the season.  The Packers will be back in action at Riverside Arena Thursday night against another tough team in Northfield, with the varsity face-off at 7:15 p.m.  The game Thursday night will be the first in a string of seven the last eight games of the regular season on home ice for Austin.