ST. PAUL, MINN. – After finding itself in a 1-0 hole entering the game’s first intermission, the Gustavus Adolphus women’s hockey team was able to break Friday’s game open when it scored three second period goals en route to a 4-1 victory over St. Catherine University at Drake Arena. The win was the eighth straight for the Gusties who are now 12-0-1 in the conference and 16-2-2 overall, while St. Kate’s falls to 3-6-4 in the MIAC and 5-9-5 overall.
“After St. Kate’s got that first goal, we didn’t get down or frustrated,” said junior forward Emily Reibert (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.). “We stuck with it, trusted the system and trusted our teammates. It was great to have our power play get a goal and then use that momentum to get another one right after.”
The Wildcats’ Mallory Ryan helped give the home team an early 1-0 lead at the 12:53 mark after the Gusties’ Laura Johnson (Fy., Chanhassen, Minn.) was called for hooking just 25 seconds prior. No additional scoring occurred for the remainder of the period, but Gustavus came out for the second period with life and was able to break the game open.
St. Catherine’s Randi Fabsits and Zoe Verkerke were each whistled for penalties at the 8:17 and 8:30 marks in the second period, respectively. Gustavus took advantage when Diana Draayer (Fy., Deephaven, Minn.) scored her third goal of the season at the 10:00 mark to tie the game. Assists were credited to her sister Carolyn Draayer (Sr., Deephaven, Minn.) and Johnson.
The Gusties wasted no time getting on the board again when Erica Power (Fy., Lakeville, Minn.) hit the back of the net just 38 seconds later to give Gustavus its first lead of the game at 2-1 off assists from senior captain Courtney Boucher (Hastings, Minn.) and Allison Eder-Zdechlik (Jr., Stillwater, Minn.). With the goal, Power now ranks fourth in the MIAC in total points with 20.
Reibert took charge from that point, and capped off the Gusties’ big second period with an unassisted goal with just 1:29 to play in the middle frame to give Gustavus a 3-1 advantage going into the final period. Down two goals with just 4:30 remaining in the game, Wildcat coach Brad Marshall made the bold move of pulling his goaltender early. Reibert made him pay when she found the empty net for her second goal of the night and her seventh of the season to allow Gustavus to jump ahead 4-1, which is where the score would stay for the remainder of the game.
“We played solid as a team after the first period, top to bottom,” said Reibert. “We just need to continue to do so for the rest of MIAC play.”
Lindsey Hibbard (Jr., Princeton, Minn.), this week’s MIAC women’s hockey athlete of the week, saw her scoreless streak of 190:51 minutes come to an end after Ryan’s goal in the first period, but still earned the win to move her record to 14-2-2 on the season after registering 11 saves. St. Kate’s Abbi White, who leads the nation in several major goaltending categories, suffered the loss for the Wildcats after allowing three goals and making 29 saves.
Gustavus overwhelmed St. Kate’s in the shot count with a 33-12 advantage and also in the face-off circle by winning 39-of-54 opportunities. The Gusties also had only four penalties compared to the Wildcats’ seven.
Gustavus will go for its fourth MIAC series sweep in a row tomorrow when it welcomes St. Kate’s to Don Roberts Ice Rink for game two of the series. Face-off is set for 2 p.m.