Women’s Hockey drops playoff semifinal: Gusties lose 3-2 in overtime to St. Thomas

The Gustavus Women’s Hockey Team ended their season last Saturday with a heartbreaking loss to conference rival St. Thomas in the MIAC playoff semifinal game. This matchup decided who would go on to play Augsburg College in the MIAC Championship game, and give an automatic bid for the NCAA tournament. Although the Gusties weren’t able to advance to the finals, they had a spectacular year overall, highlighted by a regular season MIAC Championship and boasting a 17-6-3 (13-2-3 MIAC) record. They improved vastly from the previous year, in which they posted a 9-11-5 record (8-6-4 MIAC) and a fourth place MIAC finish.

The game was close from start to finish, with the Gusties striking first in the opening period. Just 4:13 into the game, Senior Emily Gustafson received a pass from Junior Katelyn Klein and beat the Tommie goaltender to take a 1-0 lead. This was Gustafson’s ninth goal of the season. The Gusties rode that momentum, outshooting St. Thomas 8-5, and carried their one-goal lead through to the second period.

The Gusties added to their lead early in the second period, after just 2:12 minutes of play.  This time, First-year Amelia Vosen found Junior Erica Power, who gave Gustavus a 2-0 lead after beating the Tommie Goalie for her eighth goal of the season. The Tommies were able to respond less than two minutes later for their first goal of the game. The score remained 2-1 until the Tommies scored just before the last intermission. After the second period, in which both teams had 10 shots on goal, the score was all tied, 2-2.

“[The season] was a journey and when we started clicking it was fun to see.” — Coach Mike Carroll

In the final period of regulation, the Gusties were in control, but were unable to turn their numerous scoring chances into goals. They outshot the Tommies 10-2 in the final period, but overtime would decide which team would advance.

After 3:32 of play in overtime, the Gusties received a great opportunity when they got a powerplay off of a hooking penalty against St. Thomas. This was the first penalty of the game, and it came at a very opportune time for the Gusties. Despite the advantage, the Black and Gold were unable to score, and their powerplay was cut short when Sophomore Laura Johnson called for roughing. Neither team was able to convert the powerplay into a game-winning goal, and the game remained even for another few minutes.  Then, 12:24 seconds into the overtime period, the Tommies took advantage of a turnover in the defensive zone, and scored the game-winning goal.

Gustie goaltender Amanda DiNella was solid in net, saving 25 of 28 shots. This was just her recorded loss all season, and her first since Dec. 7. This difficult loss certainly doesn’t define the great season that was had by the Gustavus Women’s Hockey team. Head Coach Mike Carroll, who was named MIAC Women’s Hockey Coach of the Year, said, “I’m proud of the team overall this season in the way that they hung together and kept improving. It is rewarding because there were a lot of gut checks going on in the locker room at the end of last season. It was a journey and when we started clicking, it was fun to see. That is what is great about sports.”

The team featured three All-Conference players in Sophomore Goalie DiNella, Junior Forward Klein, and Junior Forward Power as well as three All-Conference honorable mentions. DiNella led the nation in the regular season by only giving up 0.92 goals per game and shares the national lead with 8 shutouts. Klein and Power both had 18 points on the season. Carroll led the team to its 14th MIAC title during his 18 year career as Coach of the Gusties.  As previously mentioned, they finished the year 17-5-3 and ended the regular season on a 13-game streak without a loss. Overall, the 2016-2017 campaign was a great one for Gustie Women’s Hockey and the Gustavus community looks forward to watching their continued progress next year.

Junior captain Diana Draayer keeps the puck away from a St. Thomas defender. The Gusties had a final record of 17-6-3.