Trash Panda Skates Past Tradition Mortgage in Standings

Braemar Arena – August 5, 2025

Trash Panda took control early and never looked back in a pivotal 4-2 victory over Tradition Mortgage on Thursday evening at Braemar Arena. The win lifted Trash Panda to sole possession of second place in the Dangle League standings, snapping a two-game shootout skid in the process.

Coming into the contest with identical point totals (8) as Empowers Performance, Trash Panda needed all three points to create some breathing room in the standings—and they got just that. With the loss, Tradition Mortgage falls to 2-4 on the season and still has one game remaining later in the evening against Empower’s Performance.

Trash Panda wasted no time establishing momentum, scoring twice in the first half to build a 2-0 lead. Julia Ostapeic (Wayzata) opened the scoring at 18:08 off a feed from Gabi Lopez (Orono) and Noelle Noble (Wayzata). Less than three minutes later, Hazel Schenkelberg (Hopkins/Park) doubled the lead with help from Lopez and Ostapeic, who each tallied multiple points in the game.

Tradition Mortgage began to claw back in the second half. Chloe King (Holy Family) cut the lead in half at 8:19, assisted by Ali Butler (Mounds-Westonka/Southwest Christian). Then, with just 1:43 remaining and an extra attacker on the ice, Taylor Hall (Breck) netted another for Tradition to make it 3-2 and give her team late life.

With Tradition pressing for the equalizer, Trash Panda’s Lopez put the game away just 10 seconds later, scoring into an empty net to seal the 4-2 victory. Lopez finished the night with a goal and two assists in a standout performance.

Trash Panda netminder Grace Kemp (Cretin-Derham Hall) was sharp throughout, stopping 25 of 27 shots in the win. Bella Prosser made 18 saves on 21 shots for Tradition Mortgage in just under 59 minutes of action.

Trash Panda improves to 3-2-2 and now sits alone in second place with 11 points heading into the final night of the regular season. Tradition Mortgage, now 2-4, will need a quick turnaround as they take on Empower’s Performance in their second game of the evening—a matchup with major playoff implications looming.

3 Stars of the Game

1st Star: Gabi Lopez (Trash Panda) – 1G, 2A, Game-winner
2nd Star: Julia Ostapeic (Trash Panda) – 1G, 1A
3rd Star: Grace Kemp (Trash Panda) – 25 saves on 27 shots