Tradition Mortgage Earns Win Behind Strong Defensive Effort

The second game of Thursday evening's Dangle League action featured Twin Cities Orthopedics and Tradition Mortgage. TCO entered the contest with a 1-0 record after defeating MNHockeyTV on opening night, while Tradition Mortgage was looking to secure its first victory of the young season after falling to Performance Office Papers earlier in the week.

Tradition Mortgage got an early boost from a familiar face.

Brooklyn Mauch (Holy Family Catholic), who had just finished skating for Fortis in the previous game, carried her strong night into the second contest. Mauch opened the scoring 9:52 into the first half to give Tradition Mortgage a 1-0 lead. The play started with a controlled zone entry by Allegra Kuhn (Bloomington Jefferson), who dropped the puck to the trailing Mauch. Mauch stepped into the play and finished the chance, with Kuhn and Aleah LaFleur (Breck) earning assists.

Twin Cities Orthopedics answered quickly.

Just 1:08 later, Callie Arthur (Blake) tied the game at 1-1. Avery Mullin (Academy of Holy Angels) helped create the opportunity, and Arthur tucked the puck past Tradition goaltender Emma Matack (Benilde-St. Margaret's) to even the score.

The game remained tightly contested until Tradition Mortgage regained the lead with 9:15 remaining in the opening half. Mauch started the rush and fired a shot on TCO goaltender Vivienne Anderson (Orono). The rebound kicked into the slot where Kuhn was waiting to finish the play and give Tradition Mortgage a 2-1 advantage heading into the break.

The second half belonged largely to the goaltenders.

Twin Cities Orthopedics generated the majority of the quality scoring opportunities and spent extended stretches in the offensive zone. Every time TCO appeared poised to find the equalizer, Matack came up with another timely save.

Her biggest sequence came midway through the second half when she denied a pair of breakaway opportunities. The most impressive stop came against her Benilde-St. Margaret's teammate Katie Zakrajscheck. Matack made an initial stick save before recovering quickly to get her pad across and rob Zakrajscheck on the rebound attempt.  Matack made 39 saves including 26 in the second half to earn the victory in goal. 

While Matack held the lead, Tradition Mortgage found some breathing room.

With 14:20 remaining in regulation, Payton Blom (Farmington) started the play with a crisp pass across the blue line to Brooke Ueland (Centennial/Spring Lake Park). Ueland quickly sent a shot toward the net from the middle of the point, and Allie DeFauw (Holy Family Catholic) pounced on the rebound to extend the Tradition Mortgage lead to 3-1.

The insurance goal proved to be enough as Tradition Mortgage continued to defend well in front of Matack, who turned in one of the strongest goaltending performances of the young season.

LaFleur added the finishing touch with an empty net goal with 1:34 remaining to seal the 4-1 victory.

Tradition Mortgage earned its first win of the season behind a balanced offensive effort and outstanding work in goal from Matack. Mauch finished with a goal and an assist, while Kuhn contributed a goal and an assist of her own. For TCO, Anderson was solid despite the loss, keeping her team within striking distance throughout a highly competitive contest.

The win moves Tradition Mortgage to 1-1 on the season, while Twin Cities Orthopedics falls to 1-1 after splitting its first two games of the 2026 Dangle League campaign.