Blaine, Minn. – The Gustavus women’s hockey team completed its first sweep of the season on Saturday afternoon after taking down Bethel 2-0 at the National Sports Center. The Gusties got goals from seniors Meagan Wanecke (Delafield, Wis.) and Lindsey Hjelm (North Oaks, Minn.) along with outstanding goaltending from first-year Colleen Jacoby (Muskegon, Mich.) on the way to the two-goal victory. Gustavus improves to 3-0-0 (2-0-0 MIAC), while Bethel falls to 3-3-0 (0-2-0 MIAC).
The Gusties got their start offensively midway through the first period. At the 10:28 mark, Meagan Wanecke scored her first goal of the season to give Gustavus the early 1-0 lead. It was Wanecke’s first goal since Feb. 24th of last season when she scored twice against Saint Benedict in a 9-1 victory in St. Peter.
Gustavus took the 1-0 lead in to the second period when Lindsey Hjelm pushed the lead to 2-0 with her first goal of the year. Hjelm was assisted by Carolyn Draayer (So., Deephaven, Minn.), who boasts three assists on the young season. The score would stay at 2-0 for the remainder of the afternoon as the Gusties held on for the two-goal triumph.
Goaltender Colleen Jacoby continued her strong play between the pipes. Less than one day removed from her first collegiate start, the first-year got her first shutout win donning the Black and Gold. Jacoby tallied 29 saves on the night, the most in regular season play since Dec. 10th, 2010 when Danielle Justice `12 recorded 36 saves against UW-River Falls. Jacoby’s 29 saves are the most in an MIAC regular season game since Nov. 22nd, 2002 when Anne Kautzer `05 recorded 29 saves against St. Thomas.
With the win today, the Gusties have begun the season 3-0-0 for the third consecutive year and will look forward to another MIAC series against the University of St. Thomas next weekend. Friday’s game is set for a 7:30 p.m. start in Mendota Heights, Minn. Saturday’s faceoff is set for 2:00 p.m. at Don Roberts Ice Rink in St. Peter.