Whitney Schaff skates past a Tommie defender.
Emily Klatt records one of her 12 saves.
The Gusties celebrate Laura Hillman’s goal in the second period.
Jessie Doig carries the puck up the ice.
The Gustavus women’s hockey team claimed an important 1-0 win over St. Thomas at Don Roberts Ice Rink in St. Peter on Saturday afternoon. Laura Hillman’s goal at 11:47 of the second period was all the Gusties would need to edge the Tommies and move into first place in the MIAC. Gustavus now sits alone atop the league standings with a record of 6-0-2 (14 points), while St. Thomas slips to second place with a mark of 6-1-1 (13 points).
Gustavus controlled play for most of the first period, out-shooting St. Thomas 17-4. The Tommies Lauren Bradel came up with several big saves to keep the Gusties off of the scoreboard and the score was tied 0-0 at the end of the first 20 minutes of play.
The Tommies continued to stymie the Gusties in the second period until Laura Hillman took a pass from Sara Yungner and raced up the left side of the ice. Hillman beat a St. Thomas defender at the top of the circle and then skated in on goaltender Bradel where she beat her on the stick side to put the Gusties up 1-0 at the 11:47 mark. Yungner was credited with the assist. Gustavus, which out-shot the Tommies 9-6 in the period held a 1-0 lead after 40 minutes of play.
The Gusties continued to control play in the third period moving the puck up and down the ice which really limited the scoring opportunities for St. Thomas. The Tommies were only able to put two shots on net in the final frame compared to 11 for Gustavus. St. Thomas pulled its goaltender for the extra skater for the final 1:13, but the Gusties were able to hold on for the 1-0 victory. Gustavus out-shot St. Thomas 37-12 in the game.
Gustavus goaltender Emily Klatt recorded 12 saves and recorded her fourth shutout of the season. Klatt improved to 5-0-0 overall and lowered her goals against average to Division III best 0.35 goals per game. Bradel, who played well in the nets for St. Thomas, suffered the loss and fell to 6-2-1 on the season. She turned away 37 shots in the game.
The Gusties extended their current season unbeaten streak to 12 matches dating back to their opening season loss to Adrian 2-1 in overtime. Gustavus also extended its MIAC regular season unbeaten string to 32 matches dating back to a 1-0 loss to St. Thomas in January of 2007.
Gustavus will face Augsburg in another MIAC series next weekend. The two teams will play in St. Peter on Friday night at 7:00 pm and then travel to Minneapolis on Saturday for a 7:00 pm matchup.