BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — The Gustavus women’s hockey team was nothing if not impressive all season, accumulating numerous player of the week honors, national recognition in both the NCAA Pairwise and USCHO.com polls, and sweeping both MIAC championships with just one conference loss all season. And as if there were no more records to break, the Gusties managed to find one more. With eight MIAC All-Conference selections, the 2022-23 Gusties set a new record for All-Conference selections in a season.
Hailey Holland (Sr., Aberdeen, S.D.) and Kayla Vrieze (Sr., Eagan) won two of the conference’s major awards, with Holland being named Offensive Player of the Year and Vrieze her Defensive Player of the Year counterpart.
In addition to Holland and Vrieze on the All-Conference list, Kaitlyn Holland (So., Aberdeen, S.D.), Emily Olson (Sr., Delano), Brooke Power (Jr., Lakeville), Tina Press (Sr., Cottage Grove), Brooke Remington (Jr., Scandia), and Katie McCoy (Sr., Grafton, Wis.) all got the nod from the MIAC.
Lily Mortenson (Fy., Champlin) earned All-Conference Honorable Mention distinction, while the elder Holland, Vrieze, and Press were also named to the MIAC All-Playoff team for their performances in the Gusties’ two playoff games.
Holland had a career year, scoring 33 points while playing in all of the Gusties’ 27 games. Holland scored 18 goals on 130 shots, and added 15 assists in the process. Holland led the MIAC in scoring this year, posting the conference’s lead in goals, goals-per-game (.67), and sharing the lead in points. Holland scored one hat trick this year, sharing the lead with seven other MIAC players, tallied two short-handed goals, and in the same weekend nonetheless, to share the MIAC lead with Press. The senior became the 14th player in Gustavus history to eclipse the 100-point mark in her career, and currently sits 12th in all-time Gustavus scoring with 108 career points.
Kayla Vrieze earned the MIAC’s inaugural Defensive Player of the Year award, after quarterbacking the Gustie blue line as the team’s No. 1 defender. Vrieze managed a plus/minus rating of +22 over the season, tied for 5th-best in the conference. From the blue line, Vrieze led the team in power play scoring, scoring 14 of her 16 points with the player advantage. Vrieze finished fifth in assists in the league with 16 overall. Thanks to the senior’s efforts, the Gusties have posted the NCAA’s best scoring defense numbers, holding opponents to 0.81 goals against and just 22 goals all season — the best mark in the NCAA.
Kaitlyn Holland joined her sister on the All-Conference list after having a career-best season, scoring 16 goals and adding nine helpers for 25 points in her sophomore campaign. Her 16 goals are third in the MIAC, behind only sister Hailey and Brooke Power. Holland shared the team- and MIAC-lead in power play goals at six with Power and Clara Billings (Sr., Rochester), good for 10th overall in NCAA DIII this season.
Senior Emily Olson was the MIAC’s resident playmaker this season, leading the conference with 21 assists. Olson added six goals to her total as well, putting her fifth in the MIAC for points. The senior center gathered eight multi-point games, including a four-point outing (1G, 3A) in the Gusties’ 5-2 win over Saint Benedict, and averaged a clean 1.00 points per game this season. A force in the face-off circle, Olson led the conference in face-off winning percentage at 65.2%, totaling 270 wins in the circle this season.
Brooke Power turned up the heat for the Gustie goal scorers this season, putting 17 in the back of the net, behind only Holland in the MIAC. Power led the team and the conference with six game-winning goals, good for fifth in the nation. Power added nine helpers to her stat sheet, for a total of 26 points in the season. Picking up six power play goals for a share of the team lead, Power was third in power play scoring behind Vrieze and Olson with 11 points on the player advantage.
Tina Press added to her accolades as a Gustie with another All-Conference honor after scoring 25 points on 15 goals and 10 assists. After scoring just three points in the first half of the season, Press found her groove after the holiday break, adding 22 more, including eight multi-point games and a four-game point streak. Press became the 13th Gustie in program history to eclipse 100 points, reaching the milestone just six games before Hailey Holland, and now sits eighth in all-time scoring with 118 points. Press was lethal on special teams, scoring four power play goals and two shorthanded. Press is five points away from the third 30-point season in her career.
In her first season in a Gustie jersey, junior transfer Brooke Remingtion certainly made an impact on the blue line. Remington tallied 14 points on two goals and 12 assists. Remington earned a plus/minus rating of +28 in 27 games played, good for second overall in the conference and helped the Gusties to 13 team shutouts this season.
Arguably one of the best goaltenders in the NCAA, Katie McCoy was crucial as the go-to netminder for the Gusties, earning a goals-against-average of just 0.84 and a save percentage of .942 in 27 games played. McCoy allowed just 21 goals this season, posting nine individual shutouts and combining for 13 team shutouts — the second best mark in NCAA DIII this season. With a record of 23-3, McCoy posted DIII’s third-best winning percentage at 0.885. With her shutout at Hamline earlier in the year, McCoy set a new program record for all-time shutouts at 25, and added one more for a career total of 26, which ranks second amongst all active NCAA goaltenders at any level, male or female.
Lily Mortenson was certainly the Gusties’ rookie of the year, earning All-Conference Honorable Mention honors in her first season in the black & gold, scoring 23 points on 11 goals and 12 assists. Mortenson’s plus/minus rating of +24 was good for fifth in the MIAC and third on the team, and added the third-best face-off percentage in the league at 61.0% with 158 wins.
In addition to the record-breaking eight All-Conference selections, three Gusties earned a spot on the MIAC’s inaugural All-Playoff team, as Hailey Holland, Press, and Vrieze earned the distinction. Press led the way with five points in the two games, scoring two and assisting another against Hamline, and adding two more against the Auggies. Press scored what would be the eventual game-winner in both games. Holland scored three points in the Gusties’ two postseason games, assisting two against Hamline and adding a goal in the title game against Augsburg. Vrieze led the defensive squad against Hamline and Augsburg, holding the two teams to just three goals over the two games, while earning a plus-3 rating for herself and tallying nine shots.
Honors for Hailey Holland and Press were both the third All-Conference awards for the players, with Holland earning the distinction in every season of her career. Olson, Power, and Vrieze all earned the award for the second time of their career.
Augsburg’s Nora Stepan won the conference’s Rookie of the Year award, St. Catherine’s Kaitlyn Blair earned the prestigious Sheila Brown Award, and St. Olaf’s Tracy Johnson was named Head Coach of the Year.