The Gustavus women’s hockey team put together a full-team performance to defeat UW-Stevens Point 5-1 on Tuesday night at Don Roberts Ice Rink in St. Peter. Amanda Cartony scored two goals for the Gusties and now has four goals in the last three games.
In the first period, Gustavus maintained control of the offensive zone for most of the first ten minutes of play, but weren’t able to make anything happen as UW-Stevens Point played tight defensive hockey. The Pointers Samantha Scheving drew a penalty for checking at the 7:58 mark, but Gustavus wasn’t able to capitalize on the power play and mustered only two shots on goal with the extra skater. It looked like the Gusties’ power-play woes would continue, as they were 0-10 last Saturday against Hamline. But after Brooke Hanson went to the box for checking at 15:53, Gustavus was able to set up their power-play offense, resulting in a Kirstin Peterson slapshot that went over goaltender Staci Pomering’s shoulder and into the net, giving the Gusties a 1-0 advantage just 17 seconds into the penalty. The goal was Peterson’s first of the season. The Gusties out-shot UW-Stevens Point 11-7 in the first frame, while killing off their only penalty, a checking call that went against Jenna Christensen at the 17:06 mark.
To open the second, Gustavus notched its second goal of the game at the 3:31 mark, when Lisa Tuuri took a pass from Lindsey Hjelm and was able to beat Pomering for her fifth goal of the season. During the period, the Gusties killed off two penalties while allowing only three shots from the Pointer power play unit. After the Gusties continued to hold the offensive zone for most of the period, Mollie Carroll was able to control Cartony’s rebound and find the net at 16:44 to give Gustavus a three-goal advantage.
In the third frame, Gustavus started with a 1:26 power play, as Dana Carothers was sent to the box for interference in the waning seconds of the second period. The Gusties continued to work the puck around on the power play until Erin Marvin was able to clear the zone and carry the puck through neutral ice for the Pointers. Marvin lofted the puck towards the goal from just inside the blue line and it went off Danielle Justice’s stick and caromed into the net, giving Marvin a short-handed goal and making the score 3-1 at the 1:30 mark. The wild start to the period continued, as Stevens Point would give the Gusties three separate power-play opportunities by the 4:17 mark. The Gusties cashed in on two of the three chances, first finding the net at 3:33 after Allie Schwab spun and threw a perfect pass to Cartony, who buried it in the back of the net to regain a three goal (4-1) lead. On another power play less than a minute later, Peterson dropped the puck off for Hjelm, who cut loose a slapshot from the top of the point that went off Pomering’s pad before Cartony grabbed the rebound and stuffed it home for her second goal of the night to give Gustavus a 5-1 lead. “Cartony is a really good hockey player,” Coach Mike Carroll said after the game. “She does these little, subtle things out there. She just makes hockey plays that you can’t teach.”
Gustavus out-shot Stevens Point 51-19 in the game. The Gusties were able to cash in on three of ten power play opportunities on the night. “We played very well in all facets of the game,” Carroll said. “We got to the rebounds on the power play and were able to make some nice hockey plays.”
Cartony tallied three points on the night (two goals, one assist) to lead the Gusties, while Lindsey Hjelm added three assists of her own.
The Gusties return to action on Friday, February 18, hosting Saint Mary’s at 7 p.m. in a key MIAC matchup.