ST. PETER, MINN. – Following a three-week long break from game action, the Gustavus Adolphus women’s hockey team had little time to adjust to being back on the ice as it faced No. 7 Adrian College on Friday evening. For much of the night, the Gusties looked like a team that was trying to get back in its groove and the Bulldogs took advantage, handing No. 5-ranked Gustavus a 1-0 loss at Don Roberts Ice Rink. The loss puts Gustavus at 8-2-2 on the season, while Adrian remains unbeaten and moves to 10-0-2 overall.
“Adrian outplayed us,” said head coach Mike Carroll. “We have to hand it to them, they seemed to be in mid-season form and we looked like a team that had a month off. I’m disappointed in our effort because I thought we had some great practices in the last week. There were some things we did well, especially our goalie play, but not enough, and I hope we can look back on this as a huge wake up call because the things we didn’t do well today are things we can control. The good thing is, we know we can compete with top teams, so this game is just something we’ll have to put behind us before tomorrow’s game.”
Despite being outshot 10-3 in the first period, the Gusties were able to keep the game scoreless thanks in large part to the play of goaltender Lindsey Hibbard (Jr., Princeton Minn.) who made several key stops to keep the scoreless tie intact.
“Hibbard played outstanding tonight,” said Carroll. “She was put in some really tough spots and made some huge saves. This game could have been a blowout, but she was able to hold it together for us and gave us a chance.”
One of those chances came in the second period when the Bulldogs’ Courtney Millar and Audrey Noles were both whistled for penalties at 9:13. The dual minors gave the Gusties a 5-on-3 advantage, however, the Adrian defense held strong and managed to keep the Gustie power play out of the net.
Adrian had an opportunity of its own in the middle of the third period when Sydney Smith rifled a shot from the right side of the attacking zone. Hibbard was able to block it, but Adrian’s Kaylyn Schroka found herself in front of the net and was able to tip in Hibbard’s deflection. However, the goal was negated due to playing the puck with a high stick and the score remained at 0-0.
Adrian didn’t wait long to strike and with just 2:39 remaining in the game, the Bulldogs’ Logan Taylor was able to break the 0-0 tie off assists from Devyn Fitzhenry and Hannah McGowan. The goal was the first of the season for Taylor and was likely the biggest goal of Adrian’s season. Taylor’s goal proved to be the game-winner in the team’s first game against a ranked opponent.
Gustavus had one last opportunity when Schroka was whistled for tripping with 30 seconds remaining. With Hibbard already pulled from the goal, the Gusties had another 5-on-3 opportunity. But the last ditch effort did not faze Bulldog goalie Jade Walsh and the game ended in a 1-0 win for Adrian.
“We weren’t in sync with our defense or our forwards breaking out,” said Caroll. “We didn’t do a very good job of owning the neutral zone and I think one of the reasons we were outshot was because we had to fight off quite a few more penalties than we were used to. The exciting thing is that, yeah we’re a good team, but so are they, and we only lost 1-0 and that should prove to us again that we’re right in the thick of things in the national race. ”
Allowing just the one goal, Hibbard took the loss for the Gusties and saw her record fall to 7-2-2 on the season. She made 31 saves in 59:20.
Gustavus will be back at it on Saturday when it will play its final non-conference game of the regular season when Lake Forest College comes to town. Faceoff is set for 2 p.m. at Don Roberts Ice Rink.