WILLMAR— For the second straight night in front of its home crowd, Willmar needed to play past regulation to decide its contest. And for the second night in a row, Madison Garberding sent the fans home happy.
Firing the only shot in overtime, the junior forward delivered the game-winning goal 1 minute, 4 seconds into the extra period to lift the Cardinals to 4-3 victory over Hutchinson on Tuesday from the Willmar Civic Center.
With the victory, Willmar improved its record to 6-0-1.
Despite being out-shot early in the first period, the home team jumped out to a 2-0 lead.
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Following a Tigers turnover in the neutral zone, junior forward Bailey Olson opened the scoring with an unassisted goal 2:10 into the contest. Two minutes later while racing up the boards, Garberding was on the receiving end of a beautiful up-ice pass from senior forward Mya Monson. Garberding did the rest, beating Hutchinson junior goaltender Hannah Ladwig to double the advantage.
After getting her team on the board midway through the first, Tigers senior forward Alex Hantge tied the game with a shorthanded score by senior netminder Bryton Carlson. While outshooting their opponents 15-8 in the period, Willmar went scoreless in the second.
Sophomore forward Nina Dawson put the Cardinals up 3-2 four minutes into the third period, but Hantge notched a hat trick after being assisted by senior forwards Britta Johnson and Sabrina Tracy.
Carlson stopped 29 of 32 shots to earn the victory in net while Ladwig had 34 saves.
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Closing out November on a five-game home stand, Willmar will open December with two games on the road, starting with a matchup against Sartell/Sauk Rapids at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday at Bernick’s Arena in Sartell.
Willmar 4,
Hutchinson 3
Hutchinson \u0009 1 \u0009 1 \u0009 1 \u0009 0 — 3
Willmar \u0009 2 \u0009 0 \u0009 1 \u0009 1 — 4
FIRST PERIOD – W: Bailey Olson, 2:10 … W: Madison Garberding (Mya Monson), 4:39 … H: Alex Hantge (Britta Johnson, Paige Telecky), 10:47
SECOND PERIOD – H: Hantge (Sabrina Tracy, Telecky), 2:59 SH
THIRD PERIOD – W: Nina Dawson, 4:20 … H: Hantge (Tracy, Johnson), 10:34
OVERTIME – W: Garberding, 1:04
GOALIE SAVES/SHOTS – Hutchinson:: Hannah Ladwig 34/38 … Willmar: Bryton Carlson 29/32
Litchfield/DC 1,
New Ulm 0
Senior center Sophia Hillman scored the only goal of the night as Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato skated to the shutout win at New Ulm
Stats not available
