The Gustavus Adolphus women’s hockey team will meet the University of St. Thomas in the MIAC Playoff Championship game Wednesday night at Don Roberts Ice Rink in St. Peter at 7 p.m. This will be the sixth consecutive meeting in the championship between the squads with the Gusties winning the last four title games. The winner will receive an automatic bid in the NCAA Division III Women’s Hockey Tournament. Wednesday’s game can be watched through the Gustavus website beginning at 6:50 p.m. Gustavus Sports Information Director Tim Kennedy will deliver the play-by-play action.
Series Notes
Gustavus is 17-6-2 all-time against the Tommies…The Gusties hold the series edge at 9-6-2 over the past five seasons, as Gustavus has taken six of the last seven meetings…Gustavus swept the regular season series, as the Gusties pulled out a 1-0 win when Lynn Hillen scored at 15:35 in the third period…Gustavus prevailed the next night in a 4-2 decision as the Gusties posted two goals in the first period…The Tommies’ Alicia Behr cut the lead to 3-2 with two minutes remaining in the game before Claire Opsahl added an insurance goal with 48 seconds left in the contest.
MIAC Playoff Notes
Gustavus is making its ninth appearance in the MIAC Playoffs, qualifying in each year of the tournament’s existence…The Gusties are the only program to qualify for each tournament, as Saint Mary’s and St. Thomas have qualified for eight MIAC Playoff Tournaments…This is the sixth consecutive year that Gustavus and St. Thomas have met in the final game of the MIAC Playoffs. Gustavus is 17-4-2 all-time in the MIAC Playoffs with five titles (2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007) and a trio of runner-up finishes (2000, 2002, 2003)…St. Thomas is 6-7 all-time in the MIAC Playoffs, capturing the 2003 title and finishing second each of the past four seasons…Each of the past four MIAC Championship games have been determined by one goal, including overtime play in two of the last three.
Gustavus Notes
Gustavus has the best winning percentage in Division III at 92.3 percent with both losses coming at the hands of UW-Stevens Point….The Gusties lead Division III in scoring defense (0.88) and rank third in scoring offense (4.50) and power play efficiency (38/148; 25.7%)…Gustavus also ranks fourth in penalty kill (94/101; 93.1%)…Goaltender Breanna Scavo ranks second in Division III at a 0.91 goals-against average…The Gusties are riding a 29-game winning streak against MIAC opponents dating back to last season when St. Thomas handed Gustavus its’ lone conference loss of the year. Since losing 1-0 to the Tommies on February 3, 2007, the Gusties have outscored MIAC opponents 161-20, including 13 opponent shutouts…The Gusties are 22-0-0 when scoring the first goal and 2-2-0 when opponents score first…Gustavus is 3-3-1 all-time in MIAC Playoff road games. The Gusties improved to 14-1-1 at home in the MIAC Playoffs with Saturday’s 5-0 win over Hamline. The sole loss came in the 2002 MIAC Championship game when Saint Mary’s defeated Gustavus 2-1…The 2007-08 team is on pace to set a new mark for fewest goals allowed in a season as the squad has allowed 23 goals so far this season. The current record stands at 38 goals set by the 2006-07 team…Gustavus has posted a shutout in six of its last nine contests.
St. Thomas Game Notes
St. Thomas is making its eighth consecutive appearance in the MIAC Playoffs. The Tommies are 1-6 all-time in MIAC Playoff road games. St. Thomas improved to 4-1 at home in the MIAC Playoffs with Saturday’s 4-2 win over Concordia. The lone defeat came at the hands of the Gusties in the 2004 championship final…St. Thomas clinched its eighth consecutive winning season and reached 20-wins for the fourth time in five years. The Tommies have recorded three 21-win seasons in the programs history…Ashley Reinhardt and Jackie Carroll rank ninth and tenth, respectively, in Division III at 1.50 and 1.42 points per game…St. Thomas ranks eighth in Division III in scoring offense (3.92) and ninth in scoring defense (1.50)…The Tommies have the best penalty kill in Division III (128/135; 94.8%)…The Tommies are 18-1-0 in games when they record the first goal, but 3-4-0 when their opponent scores first…St. Thomas ranks 26th nationally on the power play, converting 15 of 120 attempts (12.5%). Four players have scored two power play goals each this season.