The Gustavus Adolphus College Women’s hockey team heads to River Falls, Wisconsin this weekend to face three of the top 10 teams in the country. Gustavus will face first ranked Middlebury on Friday, tenth ranked Williams on Saturday, and third ranked UW Stevens Point on Sunday.
The Gusties, who are currently ranked #7 in the USCHO.com Division III poll, go into the weekend with a record of 7-0-1, outscoring their last three opponents 19-1. Gustavus is led on offense by forward Laura Stypulkowski who has 14 points (3g, 11a) in eight games, followed by first-year forward Molly Doyle with 13 points (4g, 9a) and Ingrid Neve with 10 points (7g, 3a). The Gusties are led on defense by returning MIAC Player of the Year Andrea Peterson who leads the team with three game winning goals. Goaltending has been very strong for Gustavus thus far, with a combination of Danielle Koopman, Kitty Hurley, and Kara Meyer allowing only three goals in eight games.
Gustavus’ first opponent will be number one ranked Middlebury at 7:00pm on Friday night. The defending national champions come into the weekend with a record of 8-0-0. The Middlebury Panthers are led by leading scorers Emily Quizon and Lorna Gifis, along with goaltender Kate Kogut. Junior forward Emily Quizon leads Middlebury in scoring with 17 points (8g, 9a), including three game winning goals, while Lorna Gifis is second on the team with 15 points (5g, 10a). Junior goaltender Kate Kogut has a 7-0-0 record with a 0.61 goals against average, stopping over 96 percent of the opponent’s shots.
Middlebury and Gustavus have quite a past, with Middlebury defeating Gustavus 6-0 in the National Championship game in 2001. Middlebury has won all five meetings with the Gusties, with the last game being a 7-0 victory on February 3, 2003 in Vermont.
Saturday afternoon, the Gusties will line up against tenth ranked Williams. Williams comes into the weekend with a 4-4-0 record, after a 3-1 loss to Middlebury on December 11 in Vermont. The Ephs are led in scoring by sophomore forward Ashley Wood (4g, 6a) and senior forward Gigi Stender (7g, 2a).
The Gusties lead the all-time series against Williams with a 5-2 record, which includes a 2-1 Gustavus victory in the national semifinal in 2001. The last meeting between these schools took place last February as the Ephs defeated the Gusties 6