SAINT PAUL, Minn. – The No. 9-ranked Gustavus women’s hockey team started its conference season with a decisive 5-0 win at St. Catherine on Friday night. With the win, the Gusties improve to 4-0 overall and 1-0 in the MIAC with their third straight shutout, while the Wildcats drop to 3-1 overall and 0-1 in the league.
“I was happy with the shutout win and scoring a few goals, but I wasn’t happy with how we ran our systems,” Head Coach Mike Carroll said. ” We were out of whack and running around too much. The positive thing is that we got our first conference win and are off to a good start there.”
It took Kristina Press (So., Cottage Grove) just five minutes into the game to give the Gusties a 1-0 lead with her second goal of the season. Clara Billings (Fy., Rochester) and Kristen Cash (Sr., Roseville) assisted on what proved to be the game-winning goal. With a little over a minute remaining in the first period, Billings found the back of the net with the help of Heather Olinger (Fy., Prior Lake) and the Gusties took a 2-0 advantage into the first intermission.
Billings continued her scoring streak with her second goal of the game and third of the season just 1:39 into the second period, assisted by Grace Schulte (So., Little Falls). Four minutes later, Cash closed out a power play with her second goal of the year to give the Black & Gold a four-goal lead. Lindsey Bjerke (Fy., New Prague) and Hailey Holland (Fy., Aberdeen, S.D.) assisted on the goal and the Gusties carried a 4-0 lead into the second intermission.
With 3:41 remaining in the contest, Press tallied her second goal of the game with the help of Jordyn Peterson (So., Brookings, S.D.) and Molly McHugh (Fy., Minnetonka).
Gustavus won the shot count 29-14. Emilia Helms-Leslie (So., Fairbanks, Alaska) picked up her second win of the season between the pipes, making 14 saves.
Gustavas and St. Kate’s close at the series at 2 p.m. Saturday at Don Roberts Ice Rink.
“Tomorrow I want us to skate like we know how we can skate and we need to be vocal on the ice because if we don’t, then it’s nail-biting time,” Carroll said.