Meagan Wanecke (left) celebrates with Melissa Mackley after scoring the Gusties first goal.
The Gustavus women’s hockey team built a 4-1 lead and then held off a late UW-Stevens Point rally to claim a 4-3 win at Don Roberts Ice Rink in St. Peter on Tuesday night. Junior defender Sara Yungner led Gustavus with two goals, while first year forward Tam Meuwissen tallied the game-winner at the 6:35 mark of the third period. Emily Klatt claimed the win in goal for the Gusties who improved to 13-4-2 on the season.
Gustavus jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on goals by Meagan Wanecke at the 5:15 mark and Sara Yungner at the 6:36 mark. Yungner’s goal was her first of the season. The Pointers cut the lead to 2-1 on a goal by Erin Marvin at the 9:00 mark, but the Gusties extended their lead to 3-1 on Yungner’s second goad with 30 seconds left in the first period.
After a scoreless second period, the Gusties appeared to be pulling away when Meuwissen scored on a 5-on-3 advantage at the 6:35 mark of the final period making the score 4-1. Just over a minute later, Jessica Edwards scored for UW-Stevens Point to cut the lead to 4-2 and then six minutes later Erin Marvin scored her second goal of the game to pull the Pointers within one goal at 4-3.
The Pointers put some good pressure on Gustavus in the final minutes and pulled their goaltender with 1:15 remaining to add the extra skater. Skating 6-on-5, UW-Stevens Point placed several point-blank shots on Gustie goaltender Emily Klatt, but Klatt responded to the challenge and kept the puck out the net allowing Gustavus to hold on for the important 4-3 victory.
Sara Yungner scored her first two goals of the season to spark the Gusties in their win over the Pointers.
With the win, Gustavus swept the season series with the Pointers after having claimed a 2-0 win in Stevens Point on January 9. It marks the first time since the Gusties began playing the Pointers in the 2002-03 season, that the Gusties have swept the regular season series. Gustavus has compiled a 7-10-4 mark all-time against UW-Stevens Point which is a member of the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA). The Gusties completed the season with a record of 4-1-1 against teams from the NCHA including a 2-0-0 mark against UW-Stevens Point, a 1-0-1 mark against UW-River Falls and 1-1-0 mark against UW-Superior.
Gustavus will wrap up its regular season with three consecutive series against Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opponents. This weekend the Gusties will face Hamline on Friday and Saturday, followed by Saint Mary’s on Feb. 19-20, and Augsburg on Feb. 26-27. Gustavus is currently in third place in the MIAC with 17 points 8-3-1, behind first place St. Thomas (9-2-1, 19 points) and second place St. Catherine (9-3-0, 18 points).