ST. PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus women’s hockey team is set to drop the puck on the 2017-18 campaign Saturday against the University of Wisconsin-Superior. Action begins 2 p.m. at Siinto S. Wessman Arena in Superior, Wis. The Gusties are coming off their 14th MIAC Championship season, where they boasted a 13-2-3 record in the league (19-7-3 overall), and finished third at the NCAA Championships. UW-Superior opens its season tonight against Concordia-Wisconsin. The Yellowjackets posted a 12-15 overall record last season and went 2-7 in the WIAC.
GUSTAVUS vs. UW-SUPERIOR GAME NOTES
Gustavus is playing its first game of the season the earliest it ever has in the 21-year history of the program. Typically, the Gusties play their first game during the first weekend of November, but have elected to take advantage of an NCAA rule that allows them to play this early.
“What’s been a good change this year is that we were allowed two scrimmages against other teams, so we played Augsburg on Saturday and Bethel on Tuesday,” Head Coach Mike Carroll said, who earned MIAC Coach of the Year and USCHO.com Division III Coach of the Year last season. “There are so many things to learn and work on at the beginning of the season, but to have a couple scrimmages really helps get us game ready. Everyone is excited to see where we’re at.”
After going through a down season in 2015-16, last year’s squad rebounded to capture the conference title and third place finish at the national tournament. The Gusties return 77 percent of their point-scoring from last season, including the top-three point-scorers in Erica Power (Sr., Lakeville, Minn.) (10g, 13a), Kaitlyn Klein (Sr., Plymouth, Minn.) (11g, 8a), and Diana Draayer (Sr., Deephaven, Minn.) (7g, 11a). Also in the mix of returners is All-American goalie Amanda DiNella (Jr., Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.), who led the MIAC last season in goals against (1.16), save percentage (.944), and shutouts (8).
“I do see a subtle change in the way they carry themselves with some confidence, but a lot of those same girls were a part of the team that didn’t do so well two years ago,” Carroll said. “In that year there were a lot of life lessons learned. To their credit they bounced back and were able to not make that a trend. I think what we learned in the NCAAs last year is something that we can use as a stepping stone to the start of this year. If we play together as a team and have the will to win, we’ll have some success.”
This year’s captains include Draayer, Power, and Allie Stanger (Jr., Paynesville, Minn.). Draayer and Power were captains last season, while Stanger wears the ‘C’ for the first time. Power earned her third-straight All-Conference nod last season after posting a team-high 23 points. Draayer also supplied a good chunk of offense, tallying 18 points. Stanger started all 29 games with two goals and five assists.
“All the captains are doing a great job,” Carroll said. “All have different personalities with common goals. So far, all signs point toward them doing a great job of leading by example and setting the tone. They couldn’t do it without the help of all the other upperclassmen buying in, who have all done a good job of getting the first-years acclimated.”