St. Peter, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphs women’s hockey team will open its 2014-15 season on Tuesday evening when it hosts UW-Superior in a non-conference contest at Don Roberts Ice Rink. Opening face-off is set for 7 p.m.
The MIAC coaches tabbed No. 8 Gustavus as the favorite to win the conference title in the 2014-15 MIAC Women’s Hockey Preseason Coaches’ Poll. The Gusties received 79 points and seven of the 10 first-place votes to take the top spot in the ranking, with 2013 MIAC Champion St. Thomas coming in second with 73 points and two first-place votes. Gustavus also sits at No. 8 in the USCHO.com preseason poll and No. 10 in the D3hockey.com preseason poll.
Under the direction of head coach Mike Carroll, who is currently in his 16th season behind the bench, Gustavus concluded the 2013-14 season with an overall record of 17-8-2 and an MIAC mark of 14-4-0. The Gusties fell short of their 10th consecutive MIAC Championship and 11th straight trip to the NCAA Tournament after being defeated by St. Thomas 2-0 in the MIAC Playoff Championship.
Who’s Back?
Gustavus returns 16 players from its 2013-14 roster. Forwards Allison Eder-Zdechlik (Jr., Stillwater, Minn.) and Carolyn Draayer (Sr., Deephaven, Minn.) and defender Courtney Boucher (Sr., Hastings, Minn.) will be counted on to lead this season’s squad as Gustauvs’s returning All-Conference performers from a year ago. Eder-Zdechlik was the team’s leading scorer last season with 27 points off 19 goals and seven assists. Draayer scored eight goals to go along with six assists, while Boucher was the team’s top scoring defender with three goals and 14 assists.
Returning to join Boucher on the blue line will be Lydia Wagner (So., Zumbrota, Minn.) (5G , 2A), Marissa Brandt (Sr., Vadnais Heights, Minn.) (2G, 6A) and Courtney Potter (So., Dayton, Minn.) (1G), each who will bring valuable experience to the Gustie defense.
Re-joining Eder-Zdechlik and Draayer up front will be Emily Reibert (Jr., Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) (5G, 6A), Emily Gustafson (So., Esko, Minn.) (2G, 3A), Keri Pickel (Sr., Rochester, Minn) (2G, 2A), Allie Lewis (So., Kearney, Neb.) (3G, 1A), Leah Johnson (Sr., Chanhassen, Minn.) (2G, 1A), Callie Johnson (So., Detroit Lakes, Minn.) (2A) and Hannah Heacox (So., Stillwater, Minn.).
Between the pipes, Gustavus will return its top goaltender from last season, Lindsey Hibbard (Jr., Princeton Minn.). In 2013-14, Hibbard went 8-5-1 and logged 909:35 in 17 games played to finish with a 1.45 goals against average and .932 save percentage. The Gusties will also return Amanda Koep (Jr., St. Michael, Minn.) who started three games a season ago. Koep totalled 162:36 for a 2.21 goals against average and a .870 save percentage.
Who’s New?
Gustavus will welcome seven first-year players to this season’s squad. Diana Draayer (Deephaven, Minn.), sister of Carolyn, Erica Power (Lakeville, Minn.), Katie Aney (Rochester, Minn.), Katy Fuller (Minneapolis, Minn.) and Kaitlyn Klein (Plymouth, Minn.) all come in at the forward position and will look to further bolster a team that ranked second only to Bethel in goals per game last season with 2.85. Rachel Skoglund (Forsest Lake, Minn.) will be the only new defender on an otherwise veteran blue line and Ashley Ritten (Robbinsdale, Minn.) will look to provide depth behind Hibbard and Koep at the goalie position.
Who’s Gone?
At forward, Gustavus will have to replace All-MIAC honoree and team captain Melissa Doyle who finished second on the team in both points (20) and goals (11) last season. Doyle played in 114 career games and scored 63 points (34G, 29A). On the defensive side, Amanda Cartony and Maddie Bergh are two key departures who tallied 15 and eight points last season, respectively and played in 111 and 109 career games, respectively. In goal, the Gusties will be without Tara Hoverstad who is studying abroad. In 2013-14, Hoverstad started eight games and totaled 437:36, while making 140 saves for a 1.92 goals against average and a .909 save percentage.
Scouting UW-Superior
Last season, UW-Superior fell in the WIAC semifinals to UW-Stevens Point by a score of 1-0 to finish its season with an overall record of 14-7-6. Gustavus faced UW-Superior twice in the 2013-14 season, falling to the Yellowjackets 2-1 on Nov. 9 and tying 2-2 on Nov. 10. The loss was the first on home ice in 49 games for the Gusties, dating back to March 20, 2010 when they lost to Elmira College in the third place game of the NCAA Tournament. Tuesday’s game will mark the 20th meeting between Gustavus and UW-Superior in women’s hockey. The Gusties have controlled the all-time series thus far with a record of 12-5-2, however, the series has been evenly matched as of late with Gustavus going 2-2-2 against the Yellowjackets over the course of the last three seasons.
Live Action
Live Video | Live Stats
Gusatvus Links
Roster | Schedule/Results | Statistics
UW-Superior Links
Roster | Schedule/Results | Statistics