RIVER FALLS, Wis. – The Gustavus women's hockey team opened its season with no easy feat, facing returning national champions and No. 1 nationally-ranked UW-River Falls. And, despite an early lead, the Gusties suffered a heartbreaker at Hunt Arena, as River Falls used a four-goal third period to deal Gustavus a season-opening loss, 5-3. The Gusties drop to 0-1 to start the year, while UWRF improves to 3-0-1.
Gustavus controlled the play from the puck drop, as a faceoff won by
Lily Mortenson (Jr., Champlin, Minn.) sent the Gusties down the ice for a scoring chance in the first ten seconds of the game. A trio of shots, one from Mortenson, and the other two from
Eva Nelson (Fy., Buffalo, Minn.) and
Hannah Gray (Sr., Stillwater, Minn.) were saved by the Falcon netminder, but the quick play set the tone for the period.
It was Mortenson once again to score the team's first of the season, as a breakout pass from
Kylie Scott (So., Dayton, Minn.) was chipped by the Falcon defender and on the stick of Mortenson down the ice. One-on-one with the defender, she created a highlight reel goal, pulling a toe drag to her backhand and walking placing the puck over the shoulder of River Falls goaltender Jordan O'Kane. Her goal held through the period, as the Gusties finished the first 20 up 1-0.
They picked up right where they left off in the second, as
Brooke Power (5th, Lakeville, Minn.) doubled the lead midway through the second period. After a
Kylie Ligday (So., Lake Elmo, Minn.) pick,
Noelle Hemr (Fy., Blaine, Minn.) and Power took on the Falcon defense 2-on-1. Hemr sent a perfectly placed pass to Power, who one-timed the puck over the right pad of O'Kane for a 2-0 lead.
Less than five minutes later, the Gusties were awarded a power play, and Hemr built the lead to three, collecting a
Lindsay Berggren (Jr., Shoreview, Minn.) rebound for the first goal of her collegiate career. River Falls went right back the other way on the ensuing play, getting a power play of their own which eventually led to their first of five unanswered. While
Maya Marston (So., Dellwood, Minn.) robbed UWRF of a goal at the start of their player advantage, the Falcons reconciled on the next play to cut the lead to 3-1 heading into intermission.
The tides shifted red in the final 20 minutes of play, as UW-River Falls scored the game-tying and game-winning goals within 58 seconds of each other. A Falcon shot found its way under the arm of Marston midway through the period, and a Gustie penalty was called shortly thereafter. Despite killing the power play with just one shot on goal, back-to-back breakaways sealed the deal for the home team, taking their first lead of the game with 3:32 remaining. River Falls added the punctuation mark on the game with an empty netter in the final seconds.
Gustavus out-shot River Falls 25-23, but the Falcons had the edge in the third, 8-6. Both teams scored one on the power play, and River Falls won the battle in the faceoff circle.
Hemr, in her first collegiate game, led the Gustie offense with six shots, a goal, and an assist. Ligday, Nelson, and Gray each added three to the team total. Marston, in her second career start, made 18 saves, nine of which came in the second period.
Gustavus hosts its home opener Friday, inviting St. Olaf (2-2-0 overall) to Don Roberts Ice Rink for a 7 p.m. MIAC match-up.
