MOORHEAD, Minn – The Gustavus women's hockey team had 52 shots on goal on Friday night, but only two found the back of the net, which proved not to be enough, dropping a 3-2 decision to Concordia.
The first period started strong for the Gusties, with a goal from
Noelle Hemr (So., Blaine, Minn.) when
Lily Mortenson (Sr., Champlin, Minn.) forced a turnover in the offensive zone, which
Taylor Insley picked up and passed over to Hemr on the right side, near the goal line. Hemr then paused and picked out her spot in the top corner to give the Gusties a 1-0 lead, just under seven minutes into the game. Five minutes later, the Cobbers answered back, taking a shot from the point which was deflected past
Claire Bronson (So., Lakeville, Minn.) to tie the game up. With just over three minutes to play in the first period, on a 4-on-3 power-play, the Cobbers capitalized, scoring their second goal of the period. Gustavus held the shot advantage, 15-9, after the first, but failed to capitalize on two power-play opportunities to head into the first intermission down, 2-1.
For the Gusties, the second period was domination, winning the shots advantage 25-5 overall. The Concordia goalie, though, stopped all 25 of those shots, while the Cobbers snuck a wraparound goal past Bronson, to take the lead, 3-1 after the second period. The second period was played clean, with neither team taking a penalty.
In the third period, the Gusties found one goal, this time by
Eva Nelson (So., Buffalo, Minn.). Nelson faked a shot which sent two Cobbers sliding past and then took her shot, finding the bottom left corner to give the Gusties a one-goal margin with 1:12 left in the game. Gustavus could not find the equalizer, though, after a blocked shot by a Cobber and 20 seconds of Concordia holding the puck in the corner to see the game out. Mortenson found it with five seconds left and sent the puck across the crease, but no one was on the back side to send the game to overtime.
The Gusties went 0-for-2 on the power-play, while taking four penalties themselves, which Concordia scored on once. Abby Huselid, the Cobber goaltender, had 50 saves to shut down the Gusties and Concordia blocked 11 shots to keep Gustavus away and secure the ranked win. Hemr led the way with seven shots for the Gusties, followed closely behind by Mortenson with six, along with three others at five.
The Gustavus women's hockey team will stay up in Moorhead tomorrow to play the second game of the season series, set for a 2:00 p.m. puck drop.
