Hailey Holland tallied her first collegiate hat trick in the win (photo courtesy of David Faulkner, SPX Sports).
MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. – The No. 5 Gustavus women’s hockey completed the sweep over St. Thomas with a big 6-0 victory Saturday night. Gustavus improves to 13-2-1 overall and 9-0-1 in the MIAC while the Tommies dropped to 9-4-3 overall and 8-2-0 in conference.
“After the first five minutes, things started clicking,” said Head Coach Mike Carroll. “We got a goal and built off that and it kind of put everyone at ease and we started rolling. Really proud of our effort. It’s really hard to get sweeps in our league so we’re fortunate to get that.”
The Gusties got things rolling on just their third shot of the game as Molly McHugh (Fy., Minnetonka) netted her second goal of the series at 9:03, with Hailey Holland (Fy., Aberdeen, S.D.) getting credit for the assist. Holland got her first goal of the night in the final seconds of the first off assists from McHugh and Kristina Press (So., Cottage Grove) to push the lead to 2-0.
Gustavus broke out for four goals in the second period, putting up three in a span of two minutes. The scoring got started with Holland at the 8:09 mark as the Gusties jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Press got awarded with her second assist on that goal. Just over a minute later while the Gusties were on the power play, Holland completed the hat trick with McHugh and Grace Schulte (So., Little Falls) each picking up a point for the assist. McHugh found the back of the net on another power play goal at 10:02 to increase the lead to 5-0 and tie her with Press for the team lead at nine goals on the season. Holland picked up her fifth point on the McHugh goal as her and Kayla Vrieze (So., Eagan) each got credited with an assist. Vreize got a goal of her own at the 14:17 mark with assists going to Press and senior captain Amelia Vosen (Sr., Anoka).
Neither team netted a goal in the third, but the Gusties were able to keep the Tommies off the scoreboard for the second night in a row. Gustavus would outshoot St. Thomas 10-6 in the final period on their way to their first sweep over the Tommies since Nov. 2012.
The top line for the Gusties was productive as usual, highlighted by Hailey Holland’s career night with five points coming from three goals and two assists. McHugh tallied two goals and two assists, while fellow first liner Press had three assists to bring her point total to 18.
“That top line is starting to get some good chemistry and build off each other,” said Carroll. “They all have some grit and some speed and when they are rolling it really sets the tone for our team.”
Vrieze notched her second goal of the season and also picked up her first assist of the year. Vosen’s assist was her third of the season. Katie McCoy (Fy., Grafton, Wis) improved to 6-0-1 and recorded her fourth shutout this season, stopping all 20 shots.
“We knew this part of our schedule was going to be as tough as it gets,” added Carroll. “Next is Hamline who is starting to roll right now and I’m sure I can speak for the team and say they’re really excited to get back at it against another very good team.”
The Gusties will travel to face No. 9 Hamline in St. Paul on Friday night. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.