ST. PETER, MINN. – The Gustavus Adolphus women’s hockey team will travel to River Falls, Wisconsin on this evening for a battle with No. 6-ranked UW-River Falls. Faceoff will take place at Hunt Arena at 7:05 p.m. Gustavus will enter the contest with a record of 6-1-2 overall, while UW-River Falls owns a record of 9-2.
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UW-RIVER FALLS LINKS
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QUICK REWIND
Gustavus is coming off a 7-2 win and 1-1 tie, respectively with St. Olaf College this past weekend. On Friday in Northfield, Minnesota, St. Olaf was able to get on the scoreboard first with a goal just 4:27 into the first period, but the Gusties fired back with five straight goals of their own to grab a 5-1 lead to put them in position for their eventual 7-2 victory. Erica Power (Fy., Lakeville, Minn.) had a four point night and is now the leading point scorer in the MIAC with 13 (5G, 8A). Her first-year counterpart, Diana Draayer, also scored four points on the evening and is tied for fifth in the league with nine points (2G, 7A).
Saturday was a different story for Gustavus, as it could not find its groove from Friday and skated to a 1-1 tie with the Oles at Don Roberts Ice Rink. Gustavus looked crisp early and looked to be in control when Courtney Boucher (Sr., Hastings, Minn.) scored the Gusties’ first and only goal 8:31 into the first period. However, the Oles’ Annie Pumper tied the game at 1-1 on one of St. Olaf’s six third period shots. Gustavus would end the third period on a power play but to no avail, and the game went to overtime. There, the Gusties continued to dominate possession and looked to have a great opportunity to win the game when St. Olaf’s Drue Engelman was called for interference creating another power play chance for Gustavus, but the home team could not convert, despite outshooting the Oles 5-0 in the extra frame.
UW-River Falls is most recently coming off a series sweep of No. 10 UW-Superior. Friday, the Falcons scored three second period goals and got three points apiece from Dani Sibley and Karleigh Wolkerstorfer to earn a 6-2 victory in River Falls. Saturday, UW-River Falls finished the sweep, with four different Falcons scoring goals and first-year goaltender Angie Hall making 19 stops in the 4-1 victory, the fourth straight for UW-River Falls.
THE SERIES
Tonight’s contest is the 30th meeting between Gustavus and UW-River Falls in women’s hockey. The Gusties hold the upper hand in the all-time series with a record of 20-5-4. However, Gustavus did not manage a win in last season’s series with the Falcons. On Dec. 12, Allison Eder-Zdechlik (Jr., Stillwater, Minn.) scored a goal in the game’s final second to help the Gusties to a 2-2 tie with the Falcons. On Dec. 13, the two teams played to a scoreless tie through the first two periods, but a shorthanded goal just 13 seconds into the third period for the Falcons proved to be the Gustie back-breaker in the loss.
SCOUTING THE FALCONS
To defeat UW-River Falls, Gustavus will have to keep a close eye on Falcon junior forward Chloe Kinsel. Kinsel is the second leading scorer in Division III women’s hockey after scoring 11 goals and notching 14 assists for a total of 25 points through 11 games. Her teammate, senior forward Alice Cranston is also dangerous, having scored eight goals and tallying eight assists so far this season. Hall has seen a majority of the minutes between the pipes for the Falcons after logging 523:52 to this point, earning a record of 8-2-0 in the process. She has made 145 saves for a .873 save percentage and has allowed 21 goals for a 2.41 goals against average.
UP NEXT
Gustavus will take on yet another ranked opponent on Saturday when it hosts No. 7 UW-Stevens Point. Faceoff is set for 2 p.m. at Don Roberts Ice Rink.