Cougars net win in overtime

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, December 11, 2002

Kristin Faber's second hat trick of the season and 41 saves by eighth-grade goalie Amy Snyder were not enough to lift the Austin girls' hockey team into the winner's circle.

Maggie Duff's third goal, coming at 2:54 of overtime, pushed Mankato East to the 4-3 Big Nine Conference win Tuesday night at Riverside Arena.

Faber's third goal knotted the score at 3-3 midway through the third period, but Duff's broke the tie in sudden death. Nicole Neudecker assisted for the Cougars' leading scorer as Duff dunked Austin in a sea of shots.

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Snyder made saves on 41 of 45 shots she faced. Austin attempted only 22 shots on goal in the loss.

"In the first and second periods we skated sluggish," said Austin coach Denny Bray. "In the third and overtime we picked up the pace but we were outshot two to one.

"We had a breakdown in our defense tonight."

Courtney Hughes assisted on all three Faber goals, and Jessica Petersen added a helper on the second one.

Duff scored unassisted on two of her three tallies.

Faber now leads Austin with 13 goals and 17 points. Hughes, Jessica Petersen and Tracy Petersen are co-leaders with five assists each.

The Packers have two games this week on the road, starting Thursday at Owatonna at 7:30 p.m. at the Four Seasons Centre. Worthington hosts Austin for a non-conference skate Saturday at 1 p.m.

Summary:

First Period--1, AUS, Kristin Faber 1 (Courtney Hughes), :36 (pp). 2, EAST, Katie Weise 1, 2:41 (pp). 3, EAST, Maggie Duff 1, 6:36.

Second Period--4, AUS, Faber 2 (Hughes, Jessica Petersen), 5:04. 5, EAST, Duff 2, 5:46.

Third Period--6. AUS, Faber 3 (Hughes), 7:33.

Overtime--7, EAST, Duff (Nicole Neudecker), 2:54.