BLAINE, Minn. – The No. 5 Gustavus women's hockey team won a back-and-forth battle at the Blaine Super Rink on Friday, Jan. 31, defeating Bethel 5-4.
Abby Elliott (Sr., Lino Lakes, Minn.) and
Lily Mortenson (Jr., Champlin, Minn.) each scored a pair of goals and assisted another to lead the Gusties to victory in the nine-goal game.
Hot off a road upset of the consensus No. 1 team in the nation, the Gusties (14-4-0, 9-2-0 MIAC) came out firing, thanks large in part to the play of senior defender Elliott. Elliott extended her goal streak to three games early in the first period, tallying her sixth of the season – and sixth of her career – just 1:28 into play.
Avery Braunshausen (So., Lake Elmo, Minn.) forced a Bethel turnover on the forecheck and threaded the needle to hit Elliott on the blue line, who sent a shot through traffic to beat Royal tendy Anna Hanson for a 1-0 Gustavus lead.
Bethel (9-8-1, 4-7-0 MIAC) evened the score just over four minutes later, as Abbie Delong picked up her own rebound to beat
Lily Timmons (Fy., Stillwater, Minn.) on the first BU offensive opportunity of the game.
Elliott gave the visitors the lead once more 12:44 into the period, converting on a power play opportunity for her third with the player advantage and the first multi-goal game of her career.
Kaitlyn Holland (Sr., Aberdeen, S.D.) maintained possession into the Bethel zone before dropping it back for Mortenson, who fed an uncontested Elliott in the slot to put the Gusties up 2-1. The Royals responded once more, tying things up to end the lopsided first period 2-2, despite 25 shot attempts for the Gusties and just five for Bethel.
Mortenson kept the offense rolling into the second period, as the junior cleaned up a rebound in front of Hanson after four different Gustie attempts. She joined Elliott with a two-goal game, collecting her second of the night five minutes later on a 2-on-1 feed from
Noelle Hemr (Fy., Blaine, Minn.). Bethel cut the lead back down to one before the end of the period, sending a shot from the point through traffic on the power play for the seventh goal of the game, 4-3 at the second intermission.
Hemr scored the eventual game-winner to open the third period, missing a wide open net but redeeming herself on the next play, walking to the front of the Bethel goal and around the defense with a toe-drag before shoving the puck past Hanson for a 5-3 Gustie advantage. The back-and-forth battle continued, as Bethel once more cut the lead to one, converting on its own 2-on-1 opportunity before picking a corner over the shoulder of Timmons with 9:04 remaining in the final period.
The Gusties fended off any late attempts from the Royals, and Elliott nearly netted her first hat trick on an empty-netter, but her long shot went just wide as time ticked down.
Shot attempts were drastically in favor of the visitors, 73-18, with the Gusties putting 34 on target and Bethel just 11. Each team converted on one power play, while the Royals won the battle in the circle, 31-25 (55.3 percent).
Elliott and Mortenson each capped the night with two goals and an assist, while Holland added a trio of helpers and Hemr finished with a two-point game. Hemr contributed seven of the Gusties' 34 shots on goal, while Mortenson added five and Holland four to lead the team. Timmons earned her 13th solo win with seven saves between the pipes.
The two teams complete the series with a 2 p.m. puck-drop on Saturday, Feb. 1, at Don Roberts Ice Rink for Gustavus Women's Hockey Alumni Day.
