After opening the season with three straight wins, the Park Wolfpack suffered its second loss in a row Tuesday, Nov. 22, falling 1-0 to visiting Roseville/Mahtomedi at Cottage Grove Ice Arena.

Neither team could find the back of the net for the first two periods. Then in the third, Roseville/Mahtomedi scored on an even strength goal at the 5:57 mark.

Park looked for an equalizer the rest of the way but couldn’t find one. The Wolfpack had planned to pull their goalie for a final attempt, but that plan was wiped away by a roughing penalty with just three minutes to play in the third period.

“Overall, not bad,” said Park head coach Bay Shock. “Good first period, kind of chased around a little bit in the second period. But if you said we’re going in tied in the third against Roseville I’d take that. We just didn’t have much opportunities in the third. We were hoping at the end you pull the goalie and you get a couple of shots at the net but took a penalty and that kind of shut us down.”

Indeed, especially late, the Wolfpack just didn’t have many chances to score. Roseville outshot the hosts 30-15.

“Our top line didn’t have a ton of opportunities and when we put the puck on net there was a rebound there,” said Shock. “But we didn’t put the puck on net enough. … You’ve got to compose. That’s a good team. And we’ve got to figure out a way to play with a good team and generate some offense instead of just hanging on.”

Park goalie Tori Stepka played well and turned away 29 of the 30 shots she faced.

“Tori played a great game,” Shock noted.

Stepka is having a terrific start to the season. In five starts and four complete games, she has stopped 93 of 98 shots, or allowing just one goal a game average.

Park slipped to 3-2 on the season and 1-2 in the Suburban East Conference.

League-leading Roseville/ Mahtomedi improved to 3-0 in the SEC and 3-3 overall.

Park hosts Stillwater Saturday (2-2), Dec. 3, starting at 7:30 p.m.