The Gustavus women’s hockey team used exceptional defense and disciplined play to defeat Augsburg 8-2 at Don Roberts Ice Arena on Saturday afternoon. Gustavus is now 18-3-1 overall and 15-0-1 in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Auggies fall to 7-13-3 overall and 6-7-3 in the MIAC.
Mari Gunderson (Fr., Shoreview, Minn.) started out the scoring at the 7:55 mark of the first period with a power play goal. After a scramble in front of the net Gunderson pulled the puck back and fired it past Augsburg goalie Jena Kleis for a 1-0 lead. The Auggies were unable to get a shot on net in the first period. Gustavus did not take a penalty in the period and was one-for-two on the power play.
Augsburg tied up the game at the 2:12 mark of the second period when Tiffany Magnuson shot the puck on net and Gustavus goalie Amanda Rosequist (Fr., Edina, Minn.) knocked the puck down, but Magnuson backhanded it past Rosequist for a 1-1 tie. Four minutes later Gustie Jenny Pusch (Fr., Minneapolis, Minn.) skated up to Kleis and backhanded it past her right side for a 2-1 lead. Gustavus made it 3-1 when Jessica Doig (Fr., New Prague, Minn.) scored at the 9:30 mark. Molly Doyle (So., Eagan, Minn.) added to the lead at the 14:34 mark on a power play goal to make it 4-1. Ingrid Neve (Jr., St. Paul, Minn.) completed the second period scoring at the 17:05 mark when Doyle put the puck on net and Neve scored on the rebound. The Gusties led 5-1 going into intermission.
Brigitte Bartholdi (Fr., Cloquet, Minn.) scored a shorthanded goal to open up the third period at the 5:23 mark. Also scoring for the Gusties in the third period was Andrea Peterson (Jr., White Bear Lake, Minn.) (7:55) and Sarah Heinbigner (Fr., Stillwater, Minn.) (16:42). Magnuson scored her second goal of the night for the Auggies at the 19:26 mark, but it was too little too late. Augsburg did not take a penalty in the third period, but they were unable to capitalize on three power play opportunities.
Rosequist picked up the win in goal for Gustavus and remains unbeaten in her college career with an 8-0-0 record. Augsburg’s Kleis stopped 39 shots in the loss and falls to 1-4-0 on the season.
The Gusties are 13-8-0 all-time against the Auggies and have won 11 of the last 12 games.
With this win, Gustavus claimed at least a share of the 2006 MIAC regular season title, while also clinching the #1 seed for the MIAC Post-Season Tournament. The Gusties need one point in next weekend’s series with St. Ben’s to clinch the MIAC title outright.
Peterson, who had one goal and one assist today, pushed her career points total to 140 (64g, 76a). She now needs five points to become the all-time leading scorer at Gustavus. Sarah Moe (1998-2002) currently holds the Gustavus all-time scoring record with 144 points (80g, 64a).
The Gusties will travel to St. Joseph, Minn. next Friday to take on St. Ben’s at 7:30pm. The two teams will meet again on Saturday in St. Peter, Minn. for a game at 7:00pm.