ST. PETER, Minn. – The No. 7-ranked Gustavus women’s hockey team responded twice being down by a goal in the home opener at Don Roberts Ice Rink, eventually coming to a 2-2 draw after overtime versus the the No. 10-ranked University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Saturday afternoon.
The Blugolds took the first lead in the first period, collecting a rebound to score at the 7:22 mark. The visitors outshot the Gusties 10-8 and took their 1-0 lead into the intermission.
“In the first couple of minutes we looked good but then I thought we made some mistakes on turnovers and they looked a lot faster at that point,” Head Coach Mike Carroll said.
Gustavus knotted the score at 1-1 early into the second frame after the break. Katy Fuller (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn.) took a well-placed shot off the pad of Blugold netminder Eric Connolly that went onto the tape of Kaitlyn Klein (Sr., Plymouth, Minn.) as she buried her second goal in as many games.
Two power play opportunities for each team filled up the majority of the second period before UW-Eau Claire applied pressure late in the second period, eventually finishing with just 11 seconds remaining in the period to take a 2-1 lead into the third period.
Once again, the Black and Gold came out after the intermission and tied the game. Three minutes into the final period, senior co-captain Diana Draayer (Deephaven, Minn.) capitalized on a breakaway opportunity for her first goal of the season, receiving a pass from Fuller – her second helper of the game.
“I thought in the second period, we did much better and picked up our intensity, winning a lot of puck battles. We did some good things in the third period as well and played hard against a really good hockey team,” Carroll commented.
Gustie goaltender Amanda DiNella (Jr., Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.) tallied 25 saves in net, fending off a 10-5 Blugold shot advantage in the third period to lockdown the 2-2 draw.
“It’s nice to see our goal scorers come through. Again, there was a lot of good things that happened but there is also a lot we need to work on. The pace was so much quicker than it was last weekend and we showed some signs of getting better,” Carroll concluded.
The Gusties, now 1-0-1 overall, head into Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play next weekend with a series versus St. Olaf College.