Trailing 1-0 after the first period, the Gustavus women’s hockey team was looking for a spark to get rolling against the Hamline Pipers. Senior captain Melissa Mackley answered the call as she scored two second period goals to give the Gusties a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes of play. Mackley continued to shine in the third period as she assisted on goals by Kirstin Peterson and Kelsey Kennedy to help the Gusties break open a tight game and claim a 5-1 victory. Danielle Justice made 10 saves and picked up the win in goal as Gustavus improved to 14-4-2 overall and 9-3-1 in the MIAC.
The Hamline Pipers managed only four shots on goal in the first period, but they made the most of their opportunities jumping out to a 1-0 lead on a power play goal by Alli Miller at the 4:57 mark. The Gusties put 11 shots on goal in the first 20 minutes of play, but Hamline netminder Andria Pinkerton rose to the challenge and made 11 saves giving the Pipers a 1-0 lead after the first period.
The Pipers continued to shut Gustavus down early in the second period and held their 1-0 lead until Mackley scored her first goal at the 7:11 mark with an assist from Allie Schwab. Mackley gave the Gusties the lead for good with her second goal at the 18:33 mark. Schwab and Meagan Wanecke were credited with assists. Gustavus led 2-1 after two periods of play.
Gustavus broke the game open with two goals in the first six minutes of the third period. The first by Kirsten Peterson at the 1:15 mark and the second a power play goal by Kelsey Kennedy at the 5:40 mark. Mackley assisted on both goals. The Gusties closed out the scoring when Allie Schwab scored a power play goal with five minutes left to play. Gracie Olson and Alyssa Saunders picked up assists on the goal.
The Gusties got some help in their quest for their six straight MIAC regular season title when Bethel defeated first place St. Thomas 1-0 and second place St. Catherine tied Concordia 6-6. As a result of the Tommies’ loss and the Wildcats tie, Gustavus moved into a three-way tie for first place in the league standing. All three teams have identical 9-3-1 records with five league games left to play.
Melissa Mackley moved into ninth place on the Gustavus women’s hockey all-time scoring list in the game. Mackley, who now has 29 goals and 64 assists for 93 points, moved past Margaret Dorer (2004-08) with 26 goals and 66 assists for 92 points. Mackley now needs seven points in the team’s five regular season games to become the ninth player in Gustavus women’s hockey history to reach 100 career points.