RIVER FALLS, WIS. – Coming off a disappointing 1-1 tie with St. Olaf College this past Saturday, the Gustavus Adolphus women’s hockey team came ready to play against the nation’s No. 6 ranked team in UW-River Falls. The Gusties got two goals from Allison Eder-Zdechlik en route to a 3-2 victory over the Falcons on Wednesday evening at Hunt Arena. With the win, Gustavus improves to 7-1-2, while UW-River Falls falls to 9-3.
The Falcons got on the scoreboard first when first-year forward Carly Moran scored off an assist from Dani Sibley at the 14:37 mark in the first period. However, it didn’t take the Gusties long to even the game, when first-year forward Katie Aney (Fy. Rochester, Minn.) scored her third goal of the season with just four seconds remaining in the first period off an assist from Courtney Boucher (Sr., Hastings, Minn.) to tie the game at 1-1. The assist was Boucher’s fifth of the season and marks the fifth straight game in which she has tallied a point.
UW-River Falls regained the lead in the second period when the Falcons’ Dani Kocina took advantage of a Diana Draayer (Fy., Deephaven, Minn.) hooking penalty to score her sixth goal of the season at the 6:17 mark to bring the score to 2-1 in favor of the home team.
The Gusties started the third period a player down after senior Leah Johnson (Chanhassen, Minn.) was called for cross-checking at the 19:28 mark in the second period. That didn’t phase Allison Eder-Zdechlik (Jr., Stillwater, Minn.) who, playing in her first game since Nov. 22 against Hamline after suffering a concussion, was able to score a shorthanded goal just :31 seconds into the third period to even the game at 2-2 and swing the momentum back to Gustavus’s side. Twelve minutes later, Eder-Zdechlik found the back of the net again off assists from Erica Power (Fy., Lakeville, Minn) and Kaitlyn Klein (Fy., Plymouth, Minn.) to put the Gusties in front 3-2, which is where the score would remain for the game’s final eight minutes.
Wednesday’s game was the first for Gustavus this season in which the Gusties were outshot but still managed to win the game, as UW-River Falls took 29 shots to Gustavus’s 22. Lindsey Hibbard (Jr., Princeton, Minn.) moved her record to 6-1-2 on the season after allowing two goals and making 27 saves. Angie Hall took the loss between the pipes for the Falcons after allowing all three Gustavus goals and making 19 saves.
Gustavus will face yet another ranked opponent on Saturday when they will host No. 7 UW-Stevens Point at Don Roberts Ice Rink. Faceoff for that game is set for 2 p.m.