For the ninth straight season, the Gustavus women’s hockey team is the proud owner of an MIAC playoff championship title.
The Gustie women found themselves in an unusual position against the Cobbers of Concordia, as they went into the locker room with a one-goal deficit after the first period of play. The Cobbers took a 1-0 lead on a rush midway through the first and stymied a productive Gustavus offense, holding the Gusties to just six shots on goal in the first period.
It wasn’t until 15:01 into the second period that the Gusties got on the board, when Senior Captain Mollie Carroll tied the game.
Junior Jenna Christensen, in an outstanding individual effort, stole the puck in the Cobber’s zone and put the Gusties up 2-1 with a backhand goal with just fifty seconds remaining in the second period.
Those two goals swung the momentum in Gustavus’ favor, and the Gusties came out firing on all cylinders in the third period, scoring a pair of goals in the first seven minutes of the period.
Those goals came from First-year Forward Carolyn Draayer just two minutes in, and then Mollie Carroll lit the lamp again to round out the scoring for the Gusties. Carroll’s two-goal performance earned her the MIAC Women’s Hockey Athlete of the Week for the second time this season.
Concordia scored once more, but couldn’t recover from the three goal deficit. The Gusties won 4-2, and will now compete in the NCAA Division III Women’s Ice Hockey Tournament for the ninth straight season.
The Gusties will be facing a familiar foe in their first-round matchup against UW-River Falls. This will be the fourth straight season in which the Gusties face UW-River falls in the first round. The Gusties have beaten the Falcons the last two years in the NCAA tourney.
Gustavus hosted River Falls earlier this season when the Falcons held Gustavus to a 1-1 tie, thereby ending the Gusties eight-game winning streak.
The first round game against River Falls is this Sat., March 10, and the winner will go onto to the Frozen Four, vying for a national championship against the best in the country.
Should the Gusties win and advance to the Frozen Four, it will be their third appearance in as many years, and they will be looking to improve on their last two finishes, both of which ended with a fourth place national finish
Gustavus and River Falls are ranked 5th and 7th in the nation respectively and the Falcons from across the border will be looking for revenge.
Gustavus has gotten the better of River Falls the last two years and hope to do the same in order to attain their goal of winning a game in the Frozen Four and winning a national title for the first time in history.