Gusties Will Face Middlebury in National Semifinals
The Gustavus women’s hockey team will face familiar foe Middlebury College in the NCAA Division III Championship semifinals on Friday, March 17 at 3:30 pm (Eastern Standard Time) at the Stafford Arena in Plattsburgh, New York. The two teams matched up earlier this season in Middlebury, Vermont and Middlebury defeated the Gusties 3-0. Gustavus received a bye into the Frozen Four, while Middlebury advanced by knocking off Manhattanville 4-3 at home last Friday night. Gustavus enters the weekend with an overall record of 22-3-2, while Middlebury brings a 25-2-0 mark into the semifinal matchup. The winner of the Gustavus/Middlebury game on Friday will play the winner of the Wis.-Stevens Point/Plattsburgh State game on Saturday at 7:00 pm (Eastern Standard Time) in the national championship game.
Head Coach Mike Carroll:
Gustavus Adolphus coach Mike Carroll has a 147-43-11 career record in his seventh season with the Gusties. Carroll was this season’s MIAC Coach of the Year for the fourth time in his career. He guided Gustavus to its third consecutive MIAC Playoff title and its fourth MIAC regular season championship.
Broadcast
The game will be broadcast over the internet through Stretch Internet. Click here to link to the broadcast. Tim Kennedy will handle the play-by-play and Scott Moe will add the color commentary.
Scouting the Panthers
Middlebury, the defending national champions, won their fourth consecutive NESCAC regular season title with a mark of 15-1-0 and then earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by winning the NESCAC Post-Season Tournament. The Panthers defeated Colby 3-1 in the semifinals and Bowdoin 8-2 in the championship. Middlebury then defeated Manhattanville 4-3 at home in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Tournament last Friday night.
Middlebury is led by junior forward Annmarie Cellino who has compiled 25 goals and 19 assists for 44 points. Senior forward and two-time NESCAC Player of the Year Emily Quizon is the team’s second leading scorer with 19 goals and 19 assists for 38 points. Senior Kate Kogut has been strong in the nets for the Panthers as she has posted a mark of 19-2-0 with a 1.68 GAA and a .911 save percentage.
The Series
Middlebury leads the all-time series with Gustavus with a record of 8-0-0. The Panthers beat the Gusties 3-0 on February 3 in Middlebury, Vermont. Middlebury has outscored Gustavus 44-8 in the previous eight meetings. This will be the third meeting between the two teams in the post-season, as Middlebury defeated Gustavus 6-0 in the Women’s Collegiate Hockey Alliance Division III Championship game in March of 2001 and beat the Gusties last year in the semifinals of the NCAA Division III Tournament 7-3.
Gustavus in the NCAA Tournament:
This will be the Gusties fourth appearance in the five-year history of the NCAA Division III Women’s Hockey Tournament. Gustavus has compiled a record of 4-3-0 in those four appearances. The game-by-game results are: 2002 — Quarterfinals — Gustavus 2 St. Mary’s 0, Semifinals — Elmira 8 Gustavus 5, Consolation — Gustavus 2 Bowdoin 1; 2004 — Quarterfinals — UW-Stevens Point 3 Gustavus 2 (2 OT); 2005 — Quarterfinals — Gustavus 3 UW-Stevens Point 0, Semifinals — Middlebury 7 Gustavus 3, Consolation — Gustavus 3 Plattsburgh State 1.
Tournament Notes:
Gustavus has more shutouts than any other team in NCAA Division III Tournament history with two. In 2002, the Gusties shutouts conference rival St. Mary’s 2-0, and last year Gustavus blanked UW-Stevens Point 3-0.
The only newcomer to this year’s tournament field is UW-Superior. All of the other six teams have played in the Division III tournament before. Middlebury (6-2-0), Elmira (5-2-0), and Manhattanville (3-5-0) have participated in the NCAA tournament all five years of its existence. Gustavus (4-3-0) has participated in three previous tournaments, while UW-Stevens Point (2-2-0) has made two previous appearances.
Team Notes:
Gustavus leads Division III in power play efficiency with a 31.7 percent conversion rate. It has broken the season record for most power play goals with 51. Middlebury held the previous record with 42.
Gustavus has five players in the top ten in Division III in power play goals. Abby Randall in fourth (7), Margaret Dorer in fourth (7), Jaclyn Dufault in ninth (6), Kelly Crandall in ninth (6), and Molly Doyle in ninth (6) account for over 60 percent of the team’s power play scoring.
Coach Mike Carroll’s squad is the least penalized team in this year’s NCAA Division III Tournament.
Gustavus has 224 penalty minutes and averages 8.3 penalty minutes per game.
When scoring first this season the Gusties are 20-1-2. Seven of those goals have been game-winning goals.
Gustavus’ first year players have tallied 121 points this season, which accounts for 33 percent of the team’s points. Mari Gunderson (14g, 11a, 25p) and Jenny Pusch (14g, 11, 25p) are tied for seventh among first year players in the Division III Tournament.
Three Gustie defenders rank in the top ten of Division III scoring for defenders including Andrea Peterson in first at 1.74 ppg, Margaret Dorer in third at 1.37 ppg, and Stefanie Ubl in ninth at 0.83 ppg.
Gustavus was 1-2-1 during the regular season against tournament teams. It won 4-3 and tied 2-2 UW-Stevens Point, and lost to Plattsburgh State 3-2 and Middlebury 3-0.
Gustavus has compiled a record of 182-62-12 in its nine-year history of women’s hockey.
Individual Notes:
Junior Andrea Peterson (White Bear Lake, Minn.) is second in Division III in scoring with 18 goals and 29 assists for 47 points. She scored two goals and recorded an assist in the MIAC playoffs, and was named Player of the Week for March 6th. Peterson recently broke Sarah Moe’s all-time school record of 144 career points. Peterson now has 147 career points. Peterson has been named MIAC Player of the Year in each of the last three seasons.
Junior Kelly Crandall (Plymouth, Minn.) is tied for third in Division III in scoring with 13 goals and 33 assists for 46 points. She has scored at least one point in each of her last six games. Crandall leads Division III in assists with 33. She has scored 98 points in two seasons with the Gusties and will soon be the seventh player at Gustavus to reach 100 career points. Crandall was named to the MIAC all-conference team for the second consecutive season.
Sophomore Molly Doyle (Eagan, Minn.) leads Gustavus with 21 goals this season and is tied for third on the team in scoring with 21 goals and 15 assists for 36 points. Doyle had a streak of scoring at least one point in eight consecutive games, but was shutout in the MIAC playoff championship game against St. Thomas. Doyle was named to her second MIAC all-conference team this season.
Sophomore defender Margaret Dorer (St. Paul, Minn.) is tied for third on the team with 10 goals and 26 assists for 36 points. She has scored at least one point in six of her last eight games. Dorer is second in Division III behind Andrea Peterson for most points by a defender with 36. She was honored this season as a member of the MIAC all-conference team.
Junior goaltender Kitty Hurley (Minnetonka, Minn.) has tallied a record of 11-3-2 this season. Over the past six games, Hurley’s record is 5-0-1 and she has averaged one goal against per game with a save percentage of .948. On the season, she ranks fifth in Division III in goals against with an average of 1.28, while her save percentage is .922.