Three goals scored in a two-minute span in the second period helped the Gustavus women’s hockey earn a 5-1 decision over St. Catherine on Saturday afternoon in St. Peter. As the second period appeared to be ending with a 1-1 tie, the Golden Gusties scored three goals in the final 2:30 of the period to gain a 4-1 lead. Gustavus remained undefeated in MIAC play at 16-0-0 and improved to 21-2-0 overall. St. Catherine dropped to 9-12-2 overall and 6-9-1 in conference play.
The first period on Saturday mimicked the first period on Friday as the period ended in a scoreless tie. However, both squads each had a scoring opportunity in the period. St. Kate’s Katie Hopkins broke loose for a breakaway against Gustavus goaltender Sarah Windhorst, but Windhorst deflected the shot with her left shoulder to prevent the goal. Minutes later, the Gusties’ Jessica Doig had a similar situation as Wildcat goaltender Mel Gerten saved the initial shot but left a rebound for Lisa Sablak. Sablak just missed a goal as her shot went over the crossbar.
The second period provided the offensive punch as five of the six goals were scored during the frame. Stefanie Ubl lit the lamp 4:33 into the period on an unassisted goal to give Gustavus a 1-0 lead. St. Kate’s did not back down as it gained momentum after Aryn Ball capitalized on a rebound left on the right side of the net by Windhorst. Both squads battled back and forth for the several minutes until the Gustavus offense broke loose. Linda Evans started the scoring after she put in a rebound after an initial shots by Laura Vannelli and Stefanie Ubl at 17:33. Jessie Doig put in her seventh goal of the season 00:17 later with assists awarded to Molly Doyle and Christine Wicker. Gustavus was not finished scoring as Doyle took advantage of a two-skater edge in the last minute to give the Gusties a comfortable 4-1 lead heading into the third period.
St. Kate’s had three power play opportunities during the final period, but were not able to generate quality scoring chances. During one power play, Mari Gunderson scored her 13th goal of the season short-handed as she was harassed by several Wildcat players at the 15:46 mark.
Sarah Windhorst improved to 2-0-0 as several of her seven saves were a point blank range to preserve the victory. Mel Gerten suffered the loss despite making 38 saves for a series total of 107 saves. Gustavus, which won its fourth consecutive MIAC Regular Season Title with the sweep, will wrap up the regular season with a series in Moorhead against the Concordia Cobbers on Friday night and Saturday afternoon. St. Kate’s will conclude its conference schedule against Bethel.