Lydia Wagner scored the lone goal for the Gusties on Saturday afternoon.
Mendota Heights, Minn. – After defeating St. Thomas 5-1 last night at Don Roberts Ice Rink, the Gustavus women’s hockey team could not complete the sweep, falling to the Tommies 3-1 on Saturday afternoon at St. Thomas Ice Arena.
Trailing 2-0 after two periods, the Gusties got on the scoreboard with a power play goal just 5:40 into the third, but a shorthanded goal for the Tommies with 13 seconds left gave them the insurance they needed to walk away with the win.
With this afternoon’s result, Gustavus drops to 15-6-2 overall and 13-3-0 in the MIAC, while St. Thomas improves to 15-5-3 overall and 12-2-2 in league play. The split of this weekend’s series leaves the two teams tied for the conference lead with one series remaining in the regular season next weekend.
St. Thomas wasted little time getting on the scoreboard in the first period, as Courtney Umland scored the game’s first goal at the 1:49 mark. Jenny Saxson assisted on the goal, which was Umland’s fifth of the season.
The goal proved to be the only score of the period, as the Tommies went into the first intermission with a 1-0 lead. In the opening frame, St. Thomas held a shot advantage of 11-4.
The Tommie women extended their lead in the opening minute of the second period. Hannah Bird scored her fourth goal of the year just 30 seconds into the frame thanks to a helper from Paige Baldwin and St. Thomas held a 2-0 lead.
Although the Gusties were able to get 11 shots on net, they were still outshot by the Tommies, who recorded 16 shots in the frame. Gustavus was still unable to get one past Tommie goaltender Alise Riedel, and the two teams went to the locker room at the second intermission with St. Thomas still leading 2-0.
The Gusties got on the scoreboard early in the third period when they took advantage of a power play opportunity. Lydia Wagner (Fy., Zumbrota, Minn.) scored her fourth goal of the season at the 5:40 mark to bring her team within a goal.
Gustavus had two more chances on the power play during the period. After being held scoreless on the first of these opportunities, the Gusties were awarded the skater-advantage with just 1:38 remaining. However, a shorthanded, empty-net goal by St. Thomas’s Karina Marette proved to be the back-breaker as Gustavus was not able to generate any offense of its own and fell 3-1.
For the game, St. Thomas outshot Gustavus by a count of 31-26. The Tommies were also held scoreless on four power play chances, compared to a 1 for 4 mark for the Gusties.
In net, Lindsey Hibbard (So., Princeton, Minn.) suffered the loss for Gustavus after making 28 saves. Alise Riedel earned the win for St. Thomas in a 25-save effort.
Gustavus will play Bethel in Blaine, Minn., on Friday night before returning home to take on the Royals at Don Roberts Ice Rink on Saturday afternoon for Senior Day. St. Thomas is set to take on Saint Benedict in its final conference series of the season.