St. Peter, Minn. – After opening the season with an 8-2 win over Saint Mary’s last weekend, the Gustavus women’s hockey team will host No. 9 UW-Superior in its first series of the season. The Gusties enter the weekend with a record of 1-0-0 after last Saturday’s win, while the Yellow Jackets come in with a record of 2-0-0 following a pair of wins over Hamline last weekend. The two teams will square off on Friday at 7:00 p.m., before meeting on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m., to conclude the series.
Live Action
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Game Notes
Gusties Embark On 17th Season Of Women’s Hockey… The Gustavus women’s hockey team is currently in its 17th season. Founded in 1997, the Gusties have attained an all-time record of 353-87-24, which stands as the second winningest program in all of NCAA Division III women’s hockey. The Gustie women have won 12 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) titles in the 14 years of women’s hockey in the conference. Those 12 titles rank first in front of St. Thomas, Augsburg, and Saint Mary’s, who all have two championships apiece.
The Series… This weekend’s series will mark the 18th and 19th meetings between Gustavus and UW-Superior in women’s hockey. The Gusties have controlled the all-time series thus far with a record of 12-4-1. The series has been fairly evenly matched as of late, however. Over the past two seasons, Gustavus has gone 2-1-1 against the Yellow Jackets, including a 1-0-1 record last season. UW-Superior accounted for the lone tie on Gustavus’s record last season, a 1-1 final in Superior, Wis., on Feb. 5.
Last Time Out… Although the Gusties got their 2013-14 campaign off to a good start with an 8-2 win over Saint Mary’s last Saturday, it did not come easy in the early going. After Courtney Boucher scored the first goal of the season to take a 1-0 lead just over 14 minutes into the game, the Cardinals came right back to answer with a goal a minute later to tie the game with four and a half minutes remaining in the opening period. Gustavus found its footing shortly thereafter, scoring consecutive goals to end the first period with a 3-1 lead. The Gusties went on to extend their lead to 6-1 midway through the second period and would never look back on their way to the six-goal lead.
Warm Welcome Back… Last Saturday’s second period marked the return of senior goaltender Marah Sobzcak. After missing the entire 2012-13 season, Sobzcak stepped back on the ice for the first time in two years to the roar of the Gustavus cheering section. Sobzcak was severely injured in a car accident in the summer of 2012 that kept her away from the team last season. Marah returned to Gustavus last spring and has made the full recovery back on to the ice.
Big Debut… Playing in their first collegiate game last Saturday, three first-year players scored two points in the six-goal win over Saint Mary’s. Forward Halie Gudmonson scored two goals, while Lydia Wagner had a goal and an assist and Courtney Bethune notched two assists. In the 16-plus year history of Gustavus women’s hockey, it is the first time that three first-year players have each scored multiple points in their collegiate debut. The last rookie to score two goals in her first game was Carolyn Draayer in 2011, while the last time two first-years to score multiple points in the opener was in 2010 when Melissa Doyle and Lisa Tuuri each had a goal and an assist.