The Gustavus women’s hockey team used its depth to score three goals in the third period and pull away from a valiant Concordia squad for a 5-0 victory. The Cobbers trailed 1-0 after the first period and 2-0 after two periods, but goals by Mari Gunderson, Gracie Olson, and Christine Wicker in the first ten minutes of the third period allowed the Gusties to pull away and extend their current unbeaten streak to 21 games. The Gusties are now 18-1-3 overall and 14-0-2 in the MIAC.
The Gusties took a 1-0 lead at 12:33 of the first period when Jessie Doig picked up the pick after a scramble in front of the net and slid the puck through the pads of Concordia’s Amber Malcolm and into the net. That is all Gustavus would manage in the first period despite out-shooting the Cobbers 16-5.
In the second period, the two squads battled very evenly through most of the period. Both teams spent a lot of time in the penalty box as the Gusties were assessed five penalties for 10 minutes, while the Cobbers were whistled for four penalties for eight minutes. Concordia had two full minutes with a five-on-three advantage midway through the period and put eight shots on net, but Gustavus netminder Emily Klatt turned every shot away which allowed the Gusties to maintain their 1-0 lead. Late in the period, Kirstin Peterson scored a power play goal for Gustavus at the 17:33 mark giving the Gusties a 2-0 lead after 40 minutes of play.
Much like Friday night’s game against Concordia, Gustavus broke open a tight game with a scoring barrage in the third period. Mari Gunderson scored at the 2:23 mark to make the score 3-0, and then midway through the period, Gracie Olson (9:24) and Christine Wicker (11:03) scored to make the final score 5-0. The Gusties out-shot the Cobbers 54-16. Emily Klatt was the winning goaltender as she made 11 saves and recorded her fifth shutout of the season. Amber Malcolm suffered the loss in the nets for the Cobbers as she allowed five goals and registered 49 saves.
Gustavus will travel to UW-Stevens Point on Tuesday for an important West Region matchup and then close out its regular season schedule with a conference series against Hamlline next Friday (St. Peter) and Saturday (St. Paul). The Gusties are currently alone in first place in the MIAC with a record of 14-0-2. Second place St. Thomas is one-point behind Gustavus with a record of 14-1-1. The Gusties can clinch their fifth consecutive MIAC regular season title by sweeping the Pipers.