The Gustavus women’s hockey team scored 11 goals in the first two periods of play en route to an 11-0 shutout victory over the College of St. Benedict at Don Roberts Rink in St. Peter Saturday night. Andrea Peterson and Ingrid Neve led the Gusties offensively with two goals and two assists each. Gustavus improved to 20-2-1 overall and 16-0-0 in the MIAC, while Saint Ben’s dropped to 6-15 overall and 6-10 in the MIAC.
Gustavus got on the board at 2:27 of the first period with an unassisted shorthanded goal from Andrea Peterson. Laura Vannelli garnered the second Gustie goal at 4:25 off assists from Ingrid Neve and Becky Steiner. Gustavus had three more goals in the first period. Laura Stypulkowski scored at 5:35, while Ingrid Neve fired in two goals at 10:00 and 18:53. Neve’s first goal was an unassisted power play conversion, while her second goal came on a shorthanded unassisted breakaway. The Gusties led 5-0 heading into the first intermission.
Laura Stypulkowski scored a power play goal at 5:22 of the second period off assists from Andrea Peterson and Kelly Crandall to give the Gusties a 6-0 edge. After Abby Randall’s goal at 9:10 gave Gustavus a 7-0 lead, the Gusties scored four more goals in the following seven minutes. Kelly Crandall (11:33), Andrea Peterson (14:15), Abby Randall (15:14), and Becky Steiner (15:58) all scored to extend the lead to 11-0. Kelly Crandall and Andrea Peterson each scored on Gustavus power plays.
Gustavus and Saint Ben’s played the last period without a goal. The Gusties went on to post their 12th shutout of the season.
Gustavus dominated in shots on goal recording a 55-8 edge over the Blazers. Saint Ben’s was unable to convert on six power plays, while the Gusties put together four goals on nine power play opportunities.
Andrea Peterson currently has 51 points (25 goals, 26 assists) on the season for Gustavus and is averaging 2.2 points per game. Peterson is only the third player in Gustavus school history to record more than 50 points in a single season. Sarah Moe holds the school record with 58 points, while Carrie Stefaniak recorded 53.
Gustavus will wrap up regular season play next weekend with an important two-game series with Saint Thomas. The series will determine this year’s conference champion as the first place Gusties hold a one-point lead over the second place Tommies.