SAINT PETER, Minn. — For the first time in program history, the Gustavus women's hockey team enters a new season as the reigning NCAA DIII national champions. The Gusties are ready to take the ice again, facing Augsburg for the first regular season game of the year this Friday. The Gusties ended the 2022-23 season in record-breaking fashion, finishing with a program-high 27 wins while tallying their 18th MIAC regular season title and 14th playoff championship.

The team is no stranger to high expectations to start the season, after finishing as national runners-up in 2022. "There's always pressure and expectations at the beginning of the year, and I think you need to embrace that, and that's what makes a really competitive hockey program," said Head Coach Mike Carroll, in his 25th season behind the bench. "Our veterans have a bit of experience with that feeling already. We talk long and hard about how it's a long season, and each season is new. Our returners have that mindset already." 

Carroll's team returns 13 players from last year's roster, including two All-Americans in forward Hailey Holland (5th, Abderdeen, S.D.) and goaltender Katie McCoy (5th, Grafton, Wis.). Holland led the 2022-23 team in points with 36 on 20 goals and 16 assists, while McCoy is the NCAA's (all divisions, male or female) active shutout leader with 26 in her career. McCoy is knocking on the door of many MIAC and NCAA goaltending records, with a chance to become the all-time leader in wins and shutouts in the coming season.

"It's a blessing to have those older girls and fifth-year seniors with a lot of experience returning. Katie played most of our games in net last year, and most of our first- and second-line players are back. We'll look to some of our younger girls from last season who now have a year or two under their belt to play an important role and work with us coaches to bring the freshmen along."

Also returning for the Gusties are All-Conference selections Brooke Power (Sr., Lakeville), Emily Olson (5th, Delano), Kaitlyn Holland (Jr., Aberdeen, S.D.), and Brooke Remington (Sr., Scandia). Olson, one of Carroll's team captains and the MIAC's resident playmaker, totaled 23 assists last season, while the younger Holland sister looks for another big showing in her junior year, after scoring 17 goals, including the triple-overtime game-winner in the national title game. The defensive core will miss the likes of two-time All-American Kayla Vrieze, but look to Remington and senior captain Sophia Coltvet (Arden Hills) to lead the Gusties on the blue line.

This year's roster also features 14 new faces, 13 of them first-year players. 

"This year's team has a lot of players that have to get up to the college level from high school, and it takes a while for a team to really gel. While we have a younger team, as a coaching staff, it's a great position to be in. We know we can look to those girls that have a lot of experience to set the tone, and we feel that we have a locker room full of leaders this season."

The Gusties, who boast a No. 1 national ranking in the USCHO preseason poll, have a non-conference schedule highlighted by Friday's game against Augsburg, as well as matchups against Aurora, Marian, and three games against regional rivals UW-River Falls. 

Friday's game is slotted for a 7 p.m. puck drop in Minneapolis. The Gusties begin conference play in two weeks, facing St. Scholastica on Nov. 9 and 11.