NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The Gustavus women's hockey team dropped their second overtime game of the season on Friday night, losing 3-2 to St. Olaf in Northfield to open the MIAC season.
The first period of the MIAC season for the Gusties remained fairly even against the Oles, who finished last season with a 12-13-1 (9-8-1 MIAC) record and lost in the MIAC Playoff Quarterfinal to Saint Mary's. With seven minutes left in the first frame,
Grace Bailey (Fy., White Bear Lake, Minn.) took a penalty for holding to set up an Ole power play, where sophomore goalie
Claire Bronson (Lakeville South, Minn.), making her first start of the season, made two saves to keep the deadlock. At the 19:50 mark, the Gusties brought out their top line for a faceoff in the right circle in the offensive zone, where senior
Lily Mortenson (Champlin, Minn.) executed a perfect faceoff deke through the legs of the St. Olaf center and passed the puck across the crease to find
Makaela Reinke (Fy., Hayward, Wis.) for her second goal of the season and for the team's first even-strength goal of the season.
Period two was choppier than the first period, with seven more faceoffs across the period compared to the 15 in the first. 2:52 into the frame, sophomore
Eva Nelson (Buffalo, Minn.) drew a penalty to give the Gusties a player advantage, but the power play was cut short when Mortenson got called for tripping. The Gusties dominated the action, outshooting the Oles 22-3 (12-1 on goal) over the course of the second period, but the score remained 1-0 after two periods.
With 13:39 left in the game, the Oles took a shot from the top of the point that was deflected by Solvei Berg-Messerole past Bronson to tie the game at one. It only took four minutes, though, for the Gusties to respond, when
Noelle Hemr (So., Blaine, Minn.) tapped in a shot from
Kylie Ligday (Jr., Lake Elmo, Minn.) to give the Gusties the lead back. The Oles pulled the goalie and drew a penalty with just under 30 seconds left, where they found the back of the net off of a scrum in front of the net with 15 seconds left to send the game to overtime.
Just seconds into overtime, Bronson made a save on a breakaway, giving Mortenson a chance on the other end, where she tried to go five hole and hit the left pad of the St. Olaf goalie. Mortenson took a hooking penalty while St. Olaf was on a breakaway to give St. Olaf 4v3 advantage with 3:06 left in the overtime period. As time expired on the penalty, St. Olaf took a shot from the left circle that went over the left shoulder of Bronson to give the Oles the win in overtime.
Gustavus held the shots advantage 37-22, led by
Macy Janssen (Jr., Blaine, Minn.) with six on goal while Mortenson won 17/24 faceoffs across the contest. Berg-Messerole for the Oles two goals, the tying goal early in the third period and the overtime goal.
The Gusties face the Oles again tomorrow at 2:00 p.m., this time at Don Roberts Ice Rink to finish the weekend series.
