SAINT PETER, Minn. – For the 16th time in program history, the Gustavus women’s hockey team is the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion. The No. 4-ranked Gusties on Saturday afternoon treated the home crowd at Don Roberts Ice Rink to a 3-0 shutout victory over Bethel to finish the regular season 15-1-2 in the MIAC and 20-3-2 overall.
“It’s a really nice first step in what we want to accomplish,” Mike Carroll said after claiming his 15th MIAC title as the Gusties’ head coach. “Every day in practice and every time they walk into the rink they see banners up there. We never talk about it but that shows what the expectation is and what has happened here in the past. It makes it even that much harder, but they’ve embraced it from the get-go and it’s been really fun working with a bunch of new players and some good leaders. I’m really proud of them.”
Top line forwards Molly McHugh (Fy., Minnetonka) and Kristina Press (So., Cottage Grove) fired on all cylinders as McHugh posted a hat trick with all three goals assisted by Press. McHugh notched her first goal 7:21 into the first period and the score remained 1-0 after 20 minutes. The second score came 47 seconds into the second and the ensuing 19-plus minutes were scoreless as the Gusties carried a 2-0 lead into the second intermission. The hat trick was completed 3:47 into the third, assisted by Press and Hailey Holland (Fy., Aberdeen, S.D.).
The Gusties outshot the Royals 37-13 as Katie McCoy (Fy., Grafton, Wis.) stopped every shot. Gustavus was not penalized and went 0-for-3 on the power play.
“Today you saw a relentless forecheck at times and that’s really getting to be our bread and butter,” Carroll said. “We’ve been working really hard in the defensive zone and the teams are going to be better and better moving forward. I think we are still creating our identity. We’ll come Monday, work hard and take it day by day.”
Gustavus hosts the winner of No. 4 St. Thomas and No. 5 Saint Mary’s at 2 p.m. Saturday.