×

Finlandia women hockey wins, ending 70-game losing streak

HANCOCK (AP) — Finlandia’s winless hockey season is over.

Kait Ryynanen scored a power-play goal 9 seconds into overtime, and the Finlandia women topped St. Norbert 2-1 on Saturday to snap a 70-game losing streak.

Sierra Meiners also scored for Finlandia, and goalie Annah Smiddy stopped 37 shots.

Finlandia was one of two NCAA schools without a men’s or women’s hockey win this season, with the women entering Saturday at 0-22-0 and the men’s team 0-24-0.

Before Saturday, the most recent win for the Finlandia women was Feb. 8, 2014 over Concordia.

“Our locker room is a positive place,” Finlandia women’s coach Matt Marchel said prior to beating St. Norbert. “We don’t let negativity creep in. Obviously, things can go really, really south really fast when you have the seasons we’ve had. But we have a good group of girls that think positive and try to get better every day. We only compare ourselves to us yesterday. As long as we’re moving forward, hey, we’re doing good things.”

Finlandia’s men have lost 41 straight going back to last season.

Finlandia is located in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula — a nine-hour drive from Detroit, a place so small and remote that it’s tough to get many opponents to give them home games.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today