The Gustavus Women’s hockey team opened the new season with an exciting 4-3 overtime victory against UW-Superior Oct. 28th, pushing the game into overtime with seconds remaining in the third period.
Superior started the scoring in the second period with two goals. Gustavus responded with two goals of their own with Erica Power scoring shorthanded late in the second and an unassisted goal from Senior Kaitlyn Klein early into the third period.
UW-Superior would score later in the period and with the Gusties down 3-2 with 30 seconds remaining. Sophomore Amelia Vosen scored the equalizer pushing the game into overtime where Power would then score the game winner for her second goal of the game.
The Black and Gold then took on UW-Eau Claire at home on the 4th. The game ended in a 2-2 draw with goals coming from Seniors Klein and Diana Draayer.
The Gusties were down by a goal twice in the game but responded to both Blugold goals on the way to the draw.
Junior Goalie Amanda DiNella halted 25 Blugold shots, fending off 10 attempts in the third period to secure the 2-2 draw.
“It’s nice to see our goal scorers come through. Again, there was a lot of good things that happened, but there is also a lot we need to work on. The pace was so much quicker than it was last weekend and we showed some signs of getting better,” Head Coach Mike Carroll said.
Next, the Gusties went on to earn a series sweep this past week against St. Olaf with a 4-1 win at home on Friday and a 3-0 shutout victory in Northfield on Saturday.
The Gusties opened up MIAC play against the Oles at Don Roberts Ice Rink fueled by a two goal performance from Klein.
The scoring began with with five minutes left in the first period off a power play goal from Senior Laura Johnson for her first goal of the season off an assist from Klein and Freshman Sydney Henrichs.
Following the score by Johnson, Klein would record her first goal of the night off a pass from Power early into the second period. St. Olaf would respond minutes later with a power play goal of their own.
Each team would have four power play opportunities throughout the game with the Oles successful converting once and the Gusties twice.
Gustavus would regain their two goal advantage 12 seconds later with an unassisted goal from Draayer, pushing the score to a 3-1 lead.
The scoring would cease until the 8:44 mark of the third period when Klein would register her second goal of the game, solidifying the final score at 4-1.
DiNella successfully stopped 20 of 21 shots while the Gusties dominated the offensive end, registering 41 shots to the Oles’ 21. The Gusties would also hold the advantage in the faceoff circle, winning 40 of 50 faceoff opportunities. Power would lead the way in faceoff wins, winning 14 of her 17 opportunities.
Gustavus would then head to Northfield where they would leave with a 3-0 shutout victory over the Oles to finish the series.
The Gusties would be aided by a stout game from DiNella who successfully hindered 16 shots from the home team on her way to the victory.
Klein would start out the scoring for the Gusties midway through the first period with her 5th goal of the season off assists from Power and Vosen.
Early into the second period, Gustavus would push their lead to a two goal advantage off of a score from Draayer.
The Gusties would close the scoring early in the third period from Power to solidify the score at 3-0. The goal would cap off a three point game for Power who also registered two assists in the match.
The Gusties would control the game on the offensive end, registering 23 shots to the Oles’ 16 while winning the faceoff battle with a 28-22 advantage.
The series sweep would move the Gusties record to 3-0-1 and 2-0 in conference play.
The Gusties will continue conference play next weekend with a series against the Pipers of Hamline University.