SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus women’s hockey team suffered their first conference loss Saturday, falling to Hamline 5-3. The Gusties are now 13-3-2 overall and 9-1-2 in the league, while the Pipers improved to 14-3-2 overall and 10-1-1 in the MIAC.
“There was a lot of lessons to learn from today’s game,” said Head Coach Mike Carroll. “It was an uphill battle after the start but we fought hard, and I’m very proud of the girls for their effort.”
Hamline jumped out to an early 2-0 lead within the first two minutes of the opening period, with goals from Madison Davis and Taylor Curtis. Kristina Press (So., Cottage Grove) would cut the lead in half at the 9:26 mark on her ninth goal of the season. The Pipers would take back their two goal lead just over a minute later with a goal from Sophie Rausch. The Gusties took advantage of a power play opportunity with under five minutes to go, as Emily Olson (Fy., Delano) brought the score to 3-2 with her fifth goal of the season.
The Gusties tied things up at three early in the second period when Molly McHugh (Fy., Minnetonka) scored her tenth goal of the season off an assist from Press. With just under six minutes to play, Curtis scored her second goal of the night to give Hamline a 4-3 lead. Gustavus outshot Hamline 17-9 in the second, but still found themselves down one going into the third.
Curtis completed the hat trick with 7:59 remaining in the game, to push the Hamline lead to two goals. Neither team scored the remainder of the game, as the Pipers took sole possession of first place in the MIAC with the 5-3 victory.
Katie McCoy (Fy., Grafton, Wis.) stopped 18 of 23 shots in the game for Gustavus. McHugh now leads all Gusties with 10 goals, and Press increased her team high point total to 21.
The Gusties travel to Moorhead next Friday for a 7 p.m. game against Concordia.