Kelsey Kennedy celebrates after scoring a power play goal in the second period.
The Gustavus women’s hockey team completed the regular season series sweep over Augsburg Saturday afternoon with a 7-2 win in St. Peter, Minn. Seven different Gusties tallied a goal improving their record to 8-0-0 overall, while picking up two points in the MIAC standings with a 6-0-0 league mark. The Auggies fall to 3-4-1 overall and 2-4-0 in the MIAC.
The first period saw just one goal, scored by Mollie Carroll at the 15:56 mark. The Gusties took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission and came out in the second with a goal in the eighth minute by Jenna Christensen – Kelsey Kennedy and Maddie Bergh were credited with the assist. In the 15th minute, Allie Schwab found Kennedy for what proved to be the game-winner on a power play. Amanda Cartony put the Gusties up 4-0 three minutes later with the help of Bergh and Kennedy. The Auggies ended the shutout with just over a minute remaining in the second on a breakaway goal by Rachel Hennessy, bringing the score to 4-1 after two.
Cartony tallied back-to-back assists in the third period, finding Jess Harren at the 6:35 mark and Meagan Wanecke in the 14th minute to put the Gusties up 6-1. Down five goals, the Auggies didn’t let up as Hennessy responded with her second goal of the game just 25 seconds after Wanecke’s score. Leah Johnson tacked on the final score of the match with 10 seconds left on the clock, bringing the game to a 7-2 final.
The Gustie defense was stout once again, allowing only eight shots on goal marking the second-straight game with eight or fewer shots allowed. Gustavus used all three of its goalies with each seeing 20:00 of playing time. Danielle Justice earned the win after collecting two saves in the first. Marah Sobczak came in for the second and allowed a goal with four saves and Katherine Jorgensen finished out the game in the third with one goal allowed and zero saves. Augsburg goalie Alex Hall got quite the workout by making 57 saves with seven goals allowed. The Gusties out-shot the Auggies 64-to-8.
Gustavus goalie Marah Sobczak lays out for a save on a breakaway shot by Augsburg's Kendall Christian.
Gustavus has a quick turnaround and will host the University of Wisconsin-River Falls on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. Last season, the Gusties lost to River Falls 4-2 in the regular season but got retribution with a 4-1 victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.