Kaitlyn Klein looks for a lane towards the net. Klein recorded the game-winner for the Gusties. (Photo courtesy of Roisen Granlund '17, Gustavus Sports Information.)
ST. PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus women’s hockey team blanked Saint Mary’s University 2-0 in the series opener Friday evening at Don Roberts Ice Rink, improving its record to 12-5-3 overall and 8-2-3 MIAC.
The Gusties were strong on the back end to record their sixth shutout win of the season and tallied a season-high 58 shots on goal to take down the Cardinals.
Kaitlyn Klein (Jr., Plymouth, Minn.) put the Gusties on the board in the first five minutes of the game. Klein took a pass from Emily Gustafson (Sr., Esko, Minn.) with help from Diana Draayer (Jr., Deephaven, Minn.) to record her team-leading ninth goal of the season and a league-leading fifth game-winning goal. In the first period, the home team notched 20 shots on goal and didn’t allow one shot from Saint Mary’s to take a 1-0 lead into the the first break.
Gustavus kept on the offensive pressure in the second period, leading in shots by a margin of 23-3. Erica Power (Jr., Lakeville, Minn.) gave the Gusties a 2-0 lead at the 15:23 minute mark. Power was posted in the slot and put home a nice pass from Amelia Vosen (Fy., Nowthen, Minn.) to tally her seventh goal of the season and extend her point-streak to seven games.
Despite a third period push back of nine shots on goal from Saint Mary’s, Gustavus held its ground in the final frame to take the shutout.
“We controlled the play and handled the puck quite a bit of the time, so that allowed us to forecheck a lot,” said Head Coach Mike Carroll. “When the play did get in our end, I thought Amanda DiNella (So., Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.) made some really nice saves at the time we needed it. We have been working hard in practice about trying to bury pucks in traffic and it is just a work in progress. As many shots as we’re getting, that is good practice but hopefully we can just stay the course and they’ll start going in more.”
Goaltender Amanda DiNella earned her second consecutive shutout after recording a shutout in her last start a week ago against Concordia. DiNella posted 12 saves to register her fifth shutout of the season and improve her record to 7-2-2.
“All in all, everyone contributed and we got a lot of shots on goal so that was fun to see,” Carroll commented. “I thought energy and effort wise, we played a bit better last weekend. So we will work on that tomorrow.”
Tomorrow Gustavus heads to Winona, Minn., looking for the series sweep at Saint Mary’s. Puck drop is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Saint Mary’s Ice Arena.