Kaitlyn Klein scored one of the Gusties' six goals on Friday evening.
ST. PETER, MINN. – The Gustavus Adolphus women’s hockey team took down Hamline University by a final score of 6-3 on Friday evening at Don Roberts Ice Rink. With the win, the Gusties move to 3-0-0 in the MIAC and 4-0-0 overall, while Hamline falls to 0-1-2 in the MIAC and overall.
“Overall, a great win for us,” said head coach Mike Carroll. “It was one of those games where we had a couple early opportunities and didn’t bury the chances. However, we were still able to get a couple early goals to give us some cushion, and even had a chance to go up 4-0. Then, they got their two goals and had us a little nervous, but we continued to play our game and got through it. We did a lot of good things tonight and are looking forward to another good battle with them tomorrow.”
After getting off to an early 3-0 lead, Gustavus seemed to be in control and on its way to a fourth straight victory. However, two quick Hamline goals in the second period snapped the Gusties back into reality and forced the home team to continue its offensive strike after the Pipers narrowed the Gustavus lead to 3-2. However, despite Hamline’s persistence, the Gusties proved to be too much and overwhelmed the Pipers with two third period goals to bring the game’s final score to 6-3.
Emily Reibert (Jr., Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) got the Gusties rolling with her first goal of the season when she took a pass from Keri Pickel (Sr., Rochester, Minn.) and buried it at the 2:30 mark in the first period to put Gustavus up 1-0. The goal was the earliest Gustavus has scored in a game this season.
Emily Reibert had herself a game on Friday, scoring two goals in the Gusties’ 6-3 win over Hamline.
“Our green line of Emily, Leah and Keri played a great game,” said Carroll. “They did exactly what we needed them to do when they were out there and it was nice to see them get rewarded with a few points. They were very consistent and were our best line tonight.”
Eight minutes later, Rachel Skoglund (Fy., Forest Lake, Minn.) put the Gusties up 2-0 when she scored an unassisted goal for her first point of the season. The goal gave Gustavus a 2-0 lead going into the first intermission.
In the second period, Katie Aney (Fy., Rochester, Minn.) kept the Gustie scoring raid going when she scored her second goal of the season off an assist from Skoglund. The goal gave Gustavus a 3-0 lead with 14:34 remaining in the second period.
However, the Pipers would not go down quietly. Less than two minutes following Aney’s goal, Hamline’s Nina Chase got the Pipers on the board. Seven minutes after that, Kelsey Rafferty scored Hamline’s second goal to bring the score to 3-2 with 6:35 remaining in the second period.
“We need to work on continuing to have patience in our D-zone, winning more loose puck battles and just burying the chances that are presented to us,” said Carroll. “Tomorrow night will be a great opportunity to work on those things.”
With just :45 seconds remaining in the second period, Gustavus first-year Kaitlyn Klein (Plymouth, Minn.) gave the Gusties a 4-2 cushion when she skated around two defenders up the left wing, crossed in front of the Hamline crease, and put the puck away with a backhand. The goal was Klein’s second in as many games.
However, the two-goal cushion did not last long, as Hamline was able to score almost immediately into the game’s final period when Chelsea Koehn rifled a shot past Gustavus goaltender Amanda Koep (Jr., St. Michael, Minn.) to cut the Gustavus lead to 4-3.
Gustavus took no pity on itself though and kept its foot on the gas pedal. Thirty-eight seconds after Koehn’s goal, Allison Eder-Zdechlik (Jr., Stillwater, Minn.) put the Gusties in front by two (5-3) for the third time in the game with her second goal of the season. Gustavus didn’t relent this time around, and with 9:44 remaining, Reibert put the icing on the cake with her second goal of the game off an assist from senior defender Courtney Boucher (Hastings, Minn.).
“We had our share of miscues, but I am very happy with our performance,” said Carroll. “We showed resilience tonight and I am proud of our girls for a great game.”
As they have done all season, Gustavus dominated the shot count, putting up a 39-11 advantage and came within one shot of having their third-straight 40-shot game. In her first game of the season, Koep was awarded the victory after allowing three goals and tallying four saves. Junior Lindsey Hibbard (Princeton, Minn.) relieved Koep with 19:10 remaining in the third period and allowed no goals while making four saves.
Gustavus will be back on the ice tomorrow evening when it heads to St. Paul for game two of its series with the Pipers. Faceoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Oscar Johnson Arena.