SAINT PETER, MINN. – After being swept by the College of Saint Benedict in last season’s regular season series, the Gustavus Adolphus women’s hockey team was able to at least partly avenge those losses by earning a 3-0 victory over the Blazers in game one of a home-home series on Friday evening in Saint Peter. The win brings the Gusties’ record to 10-0-1 in the MIAC and 14-2-2 overall, while Saint Benedict falls to 4-5-2 in the MIAC and 5-8-2 overall.
“I was actually a bit disappointed with how we came out tonight,” said head coach Mike Carroll. “We had a really nice week of practice and spent a lot of time on things we know we need to improve on, but the positive thing was we hung with it tonight. We didn’t get too frustrated with ourselves and slowly but surely, we started getting better chances and were able to take advantage of some special teams work, killed a big penalty and scored on a power play. It was nice to see the team finish the game strong and hopefully we can feed off that for tomorrow.”
Gustavus did indeed start slow and was not able to get on the board until the second period after an up and down first. Seven minutes into the middle frame, Gustavus found itself on the power play and first-year Katie Aney (Rochester, Minn.) was able separate from a scrum in front of the net to score on a pass from the goal line from teammates Erica Power (Fy., Lakeville, Minn.) and Allison Eder-Zdechlik (Jr., Stillwater, Minn.). The goal was Aney’s fifth of the season and Eder-Zdechlik’s assist puts her current point streak at seven. It also marked the fifth straight game the Gusties have converted on a power play opportunity.
“We try to work on power play and special teams situations every day,” said Carroll. “We’ve been trying to mix it up a bit lately in terms of doing some different drills, but the bottom line is that at this time of year, it’s important to keep things simple. We talk about all of the things we need to do better, but really when it comes down to it, we just need to keep making hockey plays and when you do that, you tend to get some puck luck and get a few bounces to go your way. That’s great to see because you’re going to get plenty of chances in a game either on the power play or killing it and five-on-five generally takes care of itself.”
The Gusties did not hit the net again until midway through the third period when Keri Pickel (Sr., Rochester, Minn.) was able to control a centering pass directly in front of the net and put it through at the left post. The goal was Pickel’s second in as many games and her third of the season. Eder-Zdechlik and Power were again credited with assists on the play.
Six minutes later, Gustavus showed why they are now 9-0-0 on the season when scoring power play goals when senior captain Carolyn Draayer (Deephaven, Minn.) put a slap shot right by Blazer goaltender Jenna Traut’s right knee pad for her ninth goal of the season, which is tied with Eder-Zdechlik for the team lead. Fellow captain Courtney Boucher (Sr., Hastings, Minn.) and first-year Laura Johnson (Chanhassen, Minn.) each were credited with assists.
Gustavus once again got a stellar performance from junior goalie Lindsey Hibbard (Princeton, Minn.) who moved her record to 10-2-2 on the year. Hibbard made 18 total saves in 60:00 and secured her second shutout in as many games and fifth of the season. Traut suffered the loss for Saint Ben’s after playing the full 60:00 and allowing three goals to go along with 29 saves. She is now 4-8-2 on the season.
The Gusties outshot the Blazers 32-18, which marked the sixth straight game that Gustavus has held its opponent to 20 or less shots. The last team to shoot more than 20 times against the Gusties was Adrian, when they shot 32 times in a 1-0 victory over Gustavus on Jan. 9.
“Overall, I’m proud of the way we continue to fight and work hard,” said Carroll. “Again though, it’s going to be important to come out strong tomorrow. We keep stressing that this is a league where anything can happen on any given day and we have to have the ability to stay focused.”
Gustavus will close out its series with the Blazers tomorrow afternoon at the St. Cloud Municipal Athletic Complex. Face-off is set for 4:15 p.m.