Carolyn Draayer scored the lone goal in the 1-0 victory.
St. Peter, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus women’s hockey team battled its way to a 1-0 victory over UW-Stevens Point on Saturday afternoon at Don Roberts Ice Rink. It wasn’t until the third period that Carolyn Draayer (So., Deep Haven, Minn.) scored the only goal of the contest to propel the Gusties on to victory. With the win, Gustavus improves to 12-0-0 while UW-Stevens Point falls to 7-6-2.
After a 7-3 result last night between the two squads, the level of physical play was heightened on Saturday afternoon. Eight penalties were assessed in the game, but neither team could capitalize on the power play. The physical play was one of the main factors in a scoreless first two periods.
“It was definitely a battle in the corners and all over the ice. They brought a lot of physicality to the game, but we just tried to work through it and win races to the puck,” acknowledged Draayer. “Every team you play is going to have a different challenge that you have to work through, and Stevens Point was physical. We just took it one shift at a time and were able to be successful.”
The game remained scoreless until 9:37 into the third period when the Gusties were able to get on the board. Carolyn Draayer let loose from the right side and snuck it over the shoulder of UW-Stevens Point goaltender Hillary Drake to score the only goal of the contest. Draayer’s fifth goal of the season put Gustavus on top 1-0, where the score would stay for the remainder of the afternoon.
“I have to give my linemates a lot of credit for the goal,” stated a modest Draayer. “Somebody got the puck to the net, I got a nice pass and I was able to get a shot on net. I still don’t know how it went in, but it got in somehow, so it was a good team effort on the goal.”
First-year goalies Lindsey Hibbard (Fy., Princeton, Minn.) and Colleen Jacoby (Fy., Muskegon, Mich.) combined for the shutout between the pipes. Hibbard tallied four saves in the opening period, while Jacoby racked up 13 in the final two frames. It was the fourth shutout for the Gusties this season.
Even with 12 consecutive wins to start the season, the most in program history, the Gustie women remain focused on moving forward and getting better. This weekend, stated Draayer, was a step in the right direction.
“We have been working on moving forward as a team, and this weekend was definitely a step in the right direction. We dealt with whatever adversity hit us and played together as a team.”
“We just got done with ‘national ‘cele’ week,’” Draayer continued, “which is a week where we work mostly on scoring goals, so that was a fun thing for us to do, and we are going to continue to bring the goal-scoring attitude that we have been working on into next weekend and the rest of the season.”
Next weekend, the Gusties will crack the seal on the 2013 MIAC schedule when they host St. Catherine on Friday night. Face off for that game is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. The two squads will turn around and go right back at it on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. in St. Paul.