Hockey: Wildcats win first game at nationals

LANSING, Mich. — Powered by three goals from Flathead Valley skaters, the Montana Big Sky Wildcats won their first game at the USA Hockey 19-and-under Tier II girls’ national championships, dispatching the Princeton (New Jersey) Tiger Lilies 5-3 on Thursday at the Summit Sports and Ice Complex.

Whitefish’s Laurel Davidson opened the scoring for the Wildcats late in the first, when she buried a power play goal with five minutes to play in the period.

Missoula’s Sonja France spread the Wildcats’ lead to two goals with 31 seconds to play in the first on an assist from longtime linemate Sawyer Heacock-Chambers. The two set up Kalispell’s Stephanie Tartaglino early in the second period to finish a scoring run that gave Big Sky a 3-0 lead in a little less than nine minutes on the clock.

Tartaglino added the eventual game-winner with less than a minute remaining in the second, her team-high 21st tally of the season. Bozeman’s Olivia Kack scored the Wildcats’ final goal a minute after Princeton got on the board for the first time of the night.

The Tiger Lilies added two late goals but never threatened to tie. Carlie Smythe, Lillian Kashishian and Marisa Ray scored for Princeton.

Miles City’s Kelsie Hopkins saved 22 of 25 shots in goal for the Wildcats.

Big Sky will play the Armstrong Arrows, The Mid-Am district champions from outside of Pittsburgh in western Pennsylvania, at the same facility at 2:30 p.m. ET today. The Arrows lost to the (Fairbanks) Alaska Icebreakers 3-2 on Thursday.

Princeton    0    0    3    —    3

Big Sky    2    2    1    —    5

First period—1, Big Sky, Laurel Davidson (Cassidy Kerzman, Megan Delaney), 14:54 (pp). 2, Big Sky, Sonja France (Sawyer Heacock-Chambers), 19:29.

Second period—3, Big Sky, Stephanie Tartaglino (Heacock-Chambers, France), 3:52. 4, Big Sky, Tartaglino (Delaney), 19:12.

Third period—1, Princeton, Carlie Smythe (Brigid Lorincz, Alexa Jarvis), 6:11. 5, Big Sky, Olivia Kack (Alyvia Kendall), 7:16. 2, Princeton, Lillian Kashishian (Margaret Herring), 14:00. 3, Princeton, Marisa Ray (Lorincz, Marissa Letizio), 18:35.

Shots on Goal—Princeton 6-9-12—27. Big Sky 11-7-7—25. Power play opportunities—Princeton 0 of 3; Big Sky n/a. Goalies—Princeton, Kendall Smythe (25 shots-20 saves). Big Sky, Kelsie Hopkins (25-22).