Gustavus 3, Saint Mary’s 2 (Box)
WINONA, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus College women’s hockey team earned its first overtime victory of the season on Friday evening, taking a 3-2 victory over Saint Mary’s University at Saint Mary’s Ice Arena. The win bumps Gustavus to an 8-8-4 overall record and 7-3-3 mark in the MIAC, while the Cardinals fall to 6-11-3 overall and 5-6-2 in the league.
The Gusties didn’t wait long to strike, as first-year Allie Stanger (Paynesville, Minn.) scored her first career goal just 1:48 into the contest off an assist from fellow rookie Kalley Spreiter (Litchfield, Minn.). The assist marked another first, as it was Spreiter’s first career point.
The Cardinals evened the score on a power play goal at 10:48 in the first period to tie the score at 1-1 going into the first intermission. In the second, Gustavus struck early again though, as junior captain Allie Lewis (Kearney, Neb.) scored her first goal of the season from Erica Power (So., Lakeville, Minn.) to put the visitors up 2-1.
However, in the third, the Cardinals’ Jane Hannula put one through the pipes with just 4:29 remaining in the game to tie the score at 2-2 and force overtime.
With less than a minute remaining of the five-minute extra period, it looked as though the Gusties would leave Winona with another overtime tie, however, senior Emily Reibert (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) changed Gustavus’ fortunes when she scored her fourth goal of the season off an assist from Katy Fuller (Minneapolis, Minn.) at 4:15 to give the Black and Gold the sudden death victory, their first overtime win of the season.
Going into the game, Gustavus was in fifth place in the MIAC standings. With the win, the Gusties move into third, as both Concordia and Bethel, who were in third and fourth place, respectively before tonight’s games, lost their respective matchups. The Gusties now have 17 points and are two behind first place St. Thomas.
Gustavus outshot Saint Mary’s 42-15 and won the faceoff count 31-19. Lindsey Hibbard (Sr., Princeton, Minn.) earned the win between the pipes, making 13 saves in 64:15 to improve her season record to 5-1-1.
The Gusties and Cardinals conclude their series tomorrow at Don Roberts Ice Rink, with faceoff for the series finale set for 2 p.m.