Three first-period goals helped Gustavus cruise to a 6-1 conference win over St. Olaf Friday night at Don Roberts Ice Rink in St. Peter. Molly Doyle (Sr., Richfield, Minn.) scored the first goal of the game at 9:42, while Jenny Pusch (Jr., Minneapolis, Minn.) scored short-handed and power play goals during the period. Gustavus raised its record to 7-1-0 overall and 5-0-0 in the MIAC, as St. Olaf fell to 2-4-0 overall and 2-2-0 in league play.
The Gusties dictated play from the drop of the puck as Gustavus’ Melissa Kravich (Fy., Wilmette, Ill.) hit the pipe in the early minutes of the first period. St. Olaf was able to handle the pressure until Doyle scored her fourth goal of the season at 9:42 on a rebound in front of the net. Stefanie Ubl (Sr., Blaine, Minn.) was credited with her fifth assist of the season. The Oles would be given an opportunity to tie the score as Gustavus committed two penalties within 30 seconds. The Gusties killed off both power plays as St. Olaf was only able to manage two shots on goal with the two-skater advantage. Jenny Pusch helped Gustavus close out the first period with her second and third goals of the season in the last five minutes of the period for the 3-0 lead at intermission.
The second period began the same way the first period ended with a Gustavus power play goal. Jessie Doig (Jr., New Prague, Minn.) scored the second power play goal of the game 2:49 into the period on a pass from Melissa Mackley (So., Burnsville, Minn.). St. Olaf got on the scoreboard when Katie Bennett found the back of the net on a Laura Wild pass six minutes into the second period. Kravich would score her second goal of the season at 17:25 to give the Gusties a 5-1 lead.
Ubl scored the lone goal of the third period with a backhand that found the upper right corner of the net over Ole goaltender Sarah Mills’ left shoulder at 7:39 for the 6-1 victory. Gustavus outshot St. Olaf 55-8 in the contest as Mills made 49 saves. Niki Laferriere (So., Lyndonville, Ver.) played well in her first start of the season as she made four saves in two periods of action. Breanna Scavo (So., Blaine, Minn.) picked up three saves in the third period.
Gustavus and St. Olaf will wrap up the weekend series on Saturday at 5:00 pm in Northfield, Minn.