Senior forward Keri Pickel scored the Gusties’ lone goal in a 1-0 victory over Saint Mary’s on Saturday.
WINONA, MINN. – The Gustavus Adolphus women’s hockey team captured its second straight sweep in its third consecutive one-goal victory when it defeated Saint Mary’s University 1-0 on Saturday afternoon at SMU Ice Rink. The win was the fifth straight for the Gusties and will further solidify their place atop the MIAC standings as they are now 9-0-1 in the conference and 13-2-2 overall. Meanwhile, Saint Mary’s drops to 5-4-1 in the MIAC and 7-8-1 overall.
“Everybody contributed to our success today,” said senior forward Keri Pickel (Rochester, Minn.). “Both teams had their moments throughout the game…thankfully we were able to get ahead with our goal and have some great defense and goaltending to go with it.”
Despite holding a firm shot advantage in each period, including a 17-4 margin in the second, Gustavus was only able to convert on one of its 41 shots on the afternoon. After Saint Marys’ Mackenzie Klimek was called for her second penalty of the day, Pickel was able to cash in when she scored her third goal of the season off assists from Allie Lewis (So., Kearney, Neb.) and Katy Fuller (Fy., Minneapolis, Minn.) just 1:15 into the second period.
“Fuller and Lewis got the puck to the net and then I just crashed; that’s when the puck went in,” said Pickel.
Following the goal, Gustavus continued to put pressure on the Cardinal blue line, but was unable to convert. However, Lindsey Hibbard (Jr., Princeton, Minn.) kept Saint Mary’s out of the net and tallied her fourth shutout of the season by making 19 saves. Cardinal sophomore goalie Marah Shields registered a career high 40 saves, but suffered the loss. She is now 3-5-0 this season.
“After we scored, our team did a great job of sticking to our systems which helped because we were able to keep the puck on their end a lot, especially at the end of the game,” said Pickel. “It was a good battle and a great win for our team!”
Gustavus will take the ice again on Friday, Jan. 30 when it welcomes the College of Saint Benedict (4-4-1 MIAC, 5-7-1 overall) to Don Roberts Ice Rink for a 7 p.m. game.