SAINT PETER, Minn. – No. 6 Gustavus women’s hockey picked up its NCAA-leading 13th shutout of the season Friday night, beating Augsburg 6-0 at Don Roberts Ice Rink. The Gusties (16-2-1, 10-0-1 MIAC) also tie the program record for shutouts in a season, which has happened twice (2004-05, 2008-09).
After a scoreless first period that saw the Gusties outshoot the Auggies 13-0, the floodgates opened in the second with five goals. Molly McHugh (Jr., Minnetonka) scored the game-winning goal on a power play one-timer at the 4:26 mark, assisted by Tina Press (Sr., Cottage Grove) and Hailey Holland (Jr., Aberdeen, S.D.). Three minutes later, the Gusties took advantage of a five-on-three as Kayla Vrieze (Sr., Eagan) scored with the help of McHugh. One minute later, the Gusties found themselves on the skater advantage once again and Kaitlyn Holland (Fy., Aberdeen, S.D.) scored, assisted by Lindsey Bjerke (Jr., New Prague) and Clara Billings (Jr., Rochester). Forty-two seconds passed and Hailey Holland netted the fourth Gustie power play goal with helpers from Jordyn Peterson (Sr., Brookings, S.D.) and Press. Hailey Holland closed out the second period scoring with an unassisted goal, her second of the game, at the 11:15 mark and the Gusties held a comfortable 5-0 lead at the second break.
Eight minutes into the third period, Rachel Wieland (Fy., Rice) scored her second goal of the season and the Gusties maintained a 6-0 lead for a final.
“We took advantage of some opportunities,” Head Coach Mike Carroll said. “It was a different story in the first period, we were buzzing well and creating a lot of opportunities but missed the net and just didn’t get it done. It was a nice response in the second period and really proud of the girls for sticking with it. We’ve been working a lot on our power play. I also thought that it was good that we were able to stay out of the box for the most part the rest of the game.”
Katie McCoy (Jr., Grafton, Wis.) earned her NCAA-leading eighth shutout of the season after making 10 saves. The Gusties outshot the Auggies 33-10 and went 4-for-5 on the power play. Augsburg had one power play opportunity.
Coach Carroll, who recently earned his 450th career win as the Gustavus women’s hockey coach, captured his 800th career win tonight as a Gustavus coach after finishing his Gustie baseball coaching career with 344 wins in 19 seasons (1997-2015).
Gustavus and Augsburg conclude the series at 2 p.m. Saturday in Minneapolis.