ST. PETER, Minn. – In a high-profile game between two top-10 teams in the nation, it was senior captain Diana Draayer (Deephaven, Minn.) who came up big for the Gustavus women’s hockey team, recording her second career hat trick in a 4-3 win over UW-River Falls on Wednesday night. The No. 6 Gusties move to 7-1-1 with the win, while the No. 5 Falcons fall to 6-2-2.
“I couldn’t be happier for Diana,” Head Coach Mike Carroll said. “She’s had a great career and she’s a good leader. She actually wasn’t playing her best in the first period and as the game wore on I flipped her to the other wing to try something different. I don’t know if it made a difference but she works so hard day in and day out, and it’s nice to see her get rewarded.”
Amelia Vosen (So., Anoka, Minn.) gave Gustavus an early 1-0 lead 4:23 into the game, assisted by Laine Fischer (Jr., Northfield, Minn.) and Kristen Cash (So., Roseville, Minn.), and the Gusties held the one-goal advantage into the first intermission despite getting outshot 7-2.
Draayer netter her first goal of the game at the 8:16 mark of the second. Kaitlyn Klein (Sr., Plymouth, Minn.) sent a pass to Katy Fuller (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn.) in the corner who then back-handed a pass directly to Draayer in the slot to bury the puck. Just over a minute later, UW-River Falls ended the shutout and then tied the game 2-2 with 4:20 remaining in the second on a power play.
At the 6:42 mark of the third, Draayer tallied her second goal of the game in short-handed fashion. A breakdown in the Falcon defense at its own blue line allowed Draayer to collect the puck and slide it five-hole for the go-ahead goal. The Falcons netted the equalizer at the 11:29 mark, but with 1:55 remaining in the game and the Gusties on the power play, Draayer was looking to center from the corner and fired a shot on net that found the top corner to complete the hat trick.
UW-River Falls outshot the Gusties 33-16, but goalie Amanda DiNella (Jr., Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.) stood tall with 30 saves.
“Amanda continues to do really well,” Carroll said. “She was very upset that she let in those three goals and that’s a tribute to her character. That’s good because she’s thinking what she can do to get better. That resonates through our whole team when you get a goalie that can make some saves when we need them the most.”
The Gusties and Falcons complete the series at 2:05 p.m. Saturday in River Falls, Wis.
“We’re going to have to learn from this and give a little better effort Saturday because they are a very good hockey team,” Carroll said.