SAINT PETER, Minn. – No. 4 women's hockey met its cross-conference rival for the second game of the two-game series against No. 7 Augsburg, and fell short in the rematch at Don Roberts Ice Rink, dropping a 4-1 decision on Saturday afternoon. Augsburg (6-1-1, 5-1-0 MIAC) scored a pair of goals in the first an second periods, and while
Abby Elliott (Sr., Lino Lakes, Minn.) added her first collegiate tally midway through the second, it wasn't enough to get by the Auggies, who were led to victory by first-year goaltender Kayla Simonson.
Guatavus (5-3-0, 5-1-0) out-shot the Auggies 40-19, totaling 15 in both the second and third periods, but Simonson shut the Gusties down between the pipes, robbing the No. 4 ranked team of a number of late opportunities.
Augsburg opened the scoring 6:37 into the first period on the power play, as a faceoff that nearly sent the puck past the Gustie blue line was held in by Auggie forward Jenna Allen. Allen dished a pass to her teammate Emma Abrahamson, who completed the give-and-go play to the first-year forward. Allen walked to the top of the circle and fluttered a shot over the shoulder of
Lily Timmons (Fy., Stillwater, Minn.) for the first of the game.
Seven minutes later, Kate Haug, a Division I transfer from St. Thomas, made a play in the Gustie zone to get into a shooting lane. Haug found space in the middle of the ice and sent a shot off the pad of Timmons, which was tapped into the back of the net by Emily Schoeberl for a 2-0 Augsburg lead.
Brooke Power (5th, Lakeville, Minn.) had the best first period chance, grabbing a loose puck through the neutral zone for a breakaway, but was denied by the toe of Simonson on her move.
Augsburg scored twice more early in the second period, tallying a pair just a minute apart. Emily Cronkhite added the first, going 1-on-1 with
Kylie Scott (So., Dayton, Minn.) before scoring her own rebound for a 3-0 advantage. A failed zone clear off the skate of the Gusties placed a perfect puck for Grace Bonnell in the slot 1:04 later, which she sent into the back of the net to extend the visitors' lead to four.
Elliott scored the Gusties' only tally of the game eight minutes later, as a penalty on the Auggies gave the home team the player advantage. They needed only eight seconds to put one behind Simonson, as a perfect faceoff win placed the puck on the stick of Scott. She dished the puck to the half wall for
Kaitlyn Holland (Sr., Abderdeen, S.D.), who found
Lily Mortenson (Jr., Champlin, Minn.) down low. Mortenson collected the pass below the goal line, sending it to the stick of Elliott out front who found the back of the net for her first collegiate goal.
Neither team scored in the third period, as first-year netminders Timmons and Simonson shutout their opposition, with Simonson making the save of the game against Power, who took a perfect 2-on-1 pass from Mortenson, but couldn't beat the pad of the sliding Auggie, denying her of a sure goal late in the game.
Augsburg was able to thwart any last-second attempts from the Gusties to earn the 4-1 nationally-ranked MIAC victory, once again spoiling the sweep for Gustavus for the third season in a row.
Mortenson led the offense alongside
Kylie Ligday (So., Lake Elmo, Minn.), each with seven shots. Holland chipped in five to the team's 40, while she and Mortenson both assisted Elliott's goal. Timmons finished with 15 saves between the pipes, while her counterpart collected 39 against the Gusties.
The Gusties turn right back around for their fourth nationally-ranked opponent in a row, hosting UW-River Falls (6-0-2, 2-0-1 WIAC), ranked No. 1 according to both USCHO.com and DIII Hockey News, for a 7 p.m. puck drop on Tuesday, Dec. 10.
