Tradition Mortgage Stuns Performance Office Papers, Climbs Into Third Place

Performance Office Papers entered the second game of Tuesday night’s Dangle League tripleheader with an opportunity to earn a share of the regular season championship with Fortis.

Tradition Mortgage had other plans this evening. Alyssa Polaski stopped 32 of 33 shots and Tradition received goals from four different players in a convincing 5-1 victory at Braemar Arena.

The result lifted Tradition Mortgage from fifth place into third and gave Fortis the outright Dangle League regular season championship.

The league’s competitive balance has been on display throughout its best season yet. Three of the five teams entered the evening with positive goal differentials, while minus-13 was the lowest mark in the league. Tradition’s victory provided another example of how little separated the teams in the standings.

Reese Peroutka opened the scoring just 2:40 into the game, converting from Libby Moe and Brooklyn Mauch with 27:20 remaining in the first half.

Tradition doubled its lead at 15:21 when Payton Blom finished a play created by Brooke Ueland and Peyton DeMuth. Performance Office Papers generated 15 first-half shots but could not solve Polaski, sending Tradition into the break with a 2-0 lead.

Blom struck again with 24:15 left in the second half. Emma Peroutka and Mauch collected the assists as Tradition stretched its advantage to 3-0.

Reese Peroutka followed with her second goal of the game at 15:43, giving Tradition four unanswered goals.

Performance Office Papers finally broke through with 13:24 remaining. Julia Gerdes scored her fourth of the season from Jozie Kelzenberg and Lydia Joseph, cutting the deficit to 4-1.

That was the only blemish on an otherwise outstanding night for Polaski. Performance finished with a 33-28 advantage in shots, including an 18-13 edge in the second half, but Polaski repeatedly shut the door.

DeMuth completed the scoring with 1:21 remaining, converting from Moe and Mauch for the 5-1 final.

Reese Peroutka and Blom each scored twice for Tradition, while Mauch finished with three assists and Moe added two.

Tradition Mortgage completed its regular season at 3-4 with 10 points, jumping past MNHockeyTv and Twin Cities Orthopedics into third place. Performance Office Papers finished 4-3 with 13 points and remained second, three points behind regular season champion Fortis.