The Gustavus women’s hockey team had not played in over a month, but a solid effort for 60 minutes allowed the Gusties to slip past UW-Superior 2-1 at Don Roberts Ice Rink in St. Peter on Tuesday night. Lisa Tuuri and Allie Schwab scored for Gustavus, which improved to 8-2-0 on the season.
Head Coach Mike Carr0ll thought the team played well right from the start. “In the first period we came out and forechecked the heck out of them. In the second period we had a little lull, but then we came back and got that goal late in the second which gave us a big lift. In the third we came out and forced the action again, which allowed us to hold on for the win.”
The Gusties got off to a quick start and controlled play right from the drop of the puck. Lisa Tuuri gave Gustavus a 1-0 lead when she one timed a ricochet off the back boards just inside the near post and past the glove of UW-Superior’s Shanley Peters at the 3:58 mark. The goal was unassisted.
The Gusties held on to their 1-0 lead until midway through the second period when Ashlee Olson saw the puck slide onto her stick out of a scrum in front of the net. She quickly pushed it into an open net tying the score at 1-1 at the 9:53 mark.
Three minutes later, Allie Schwab scored what turned out to be the game-winner for Gustavus when when she surprised Peters with a quick shot from the right circle that bounced off Peters glove and into the net. Kelsey Kennedy was credited with the assist.
Carroll was pleased with the efforts of Tuuri and Schwab on their goals. He stated, “Pretty goals are fun for SportsCenter, but it is the gritty goals that are going to go in more times than not and both our goals tonight were gritty goals.”
All four lines and all three goaltenders saw action for the Gusties as Carroll wanted to reward each player for their hard work over the past week. The result was a complete team effort according to Carroll, ” I thought we played our best game of the year start to finish. I was looking for some improvement after break and for our first time back in more than a month there was probably more improvement than I expected.”
The Gusties out-shot the Yellowjackets 30-23 in the game. Marah Sobczak started the game in the nets for Gustavus and played the first period making six saves. Katherine Jorgenson stepped in to play the second period making five saves and allowing one goal. Danielle Justice played the entire third period making 11 saves and preserving the win for the Gusties. Jorgenson was credited with the win as Gustavus was leading 2-1 when she left the game. It was her first collegiate win in goal.
The win was the 249th career victory for Mike Carroll who needs just one more victory to become only the second coach in NCAA Division III history to reach the 250 win plateau. Carroll, who is in his 11th season, could reach the milestone on Friday night when the Gusties play Trinity College of Hartford, Connecticut in St. Peter. Game time is 7:00 pm.