Women’s Hockey Uses Three-Goal First Period To Jumpstart 4-1 Victory Over St. Thomas

Mendota Heights, Minn. – A theme has been set in the early going of the 2012-13 season for the Gustavus women’s hockey team.  That theme: jumping out to an early lead.  Such was the case on Friday night when the Gustie women scored three first period goals on their way to a 4-1 victory over St. Thomas.  With the win, the Gusties improve to 4-0-0 (3-0-0 MIAC) on the season while the Tommies fall to 3-2-0 (2-1-0 MIAC).

Allison Eder-Zdechlik (Fy., Stillwater, Minn.) continued her strong play on Friday night.  After scoring her first collegiate goal one week earlier, Eder-Zdechlik struck again to crack a scoreless tie in the first period when the Gusties were awarded their first power play of the evening 7:05 into the game.  It took all of :23 seconds for Eder-Zdechlik to find the back of the net for her second goal of the season and give Gustavus a 1-0 lead.

From there, Gustavus wouldn’t look back, pouring on two more goals in the first period and adding a fourth in the second.  At the 11:19 mark, it was Eder-Zdechlik again with a goal on an assist from Jenna Christensen (Sr., Albert Lea, Minn.).  Just :20 seconds later, Melissa Doyle (Jr., White Bear Lake, Minn.) got on the scoresheet with her first goal of the season.  Doyle was assisted by Keri Pickel (Jr., Rochester, Minn.), and the Gusties took a 3-0 lead into the first intermission.

Gustavus was able to tack on another goal in the second period when Brianna Seebold (Fy., Detroit Lakes, Minn.) scored her second goal of the year.  Seebold’s goal pushed the Gustie lead to 4-0.  Despite taking three penalties in the second period, the Gusties were able to hold St. Thomas to just eight shots; none of which found the back of the net.

The Tommies were able to get on the board in the third period following Gustavus’ fifth penalty of the night.  Korinne O’Connor scored on the power play to narrow the gap to 4-1, but St. Thomas was unable to do any more damage as the Gusties skated to the three-goal victory.

Although Gustavus took a season-high five penalties, they were able to hold the Tommies to 16 shots on goal, and killed all but one power play.  Gustavus was able to get off 33 shots offensively, giving them a 17 shot advantage.  In net, Lindsey Hibbard (Fy., Princeton, Minn.) got her second win of the season after allowing one goal and making 15 saves.

The two squads will square off again tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 p.m. at Don Roberts Ice Rink in St. Peter for the second game of the two-game series.  Live stats will be available through the Gustavus athletics website.

Box Score