SAINT PETER, Minn. - Gustavus women's hockey sent off their seniors in style on Saturday, defeating No. 3/7 Hamline in their final regular season game of the year, 4-1. Four different players scored for the team, including senior
Grace Schuck (Bloomington, Minn.) and two first-time goal scorers, first-year classmates
Bauer Ackerman (Bismark, N.D.) and
Talia Domschot (White Bear Lake, Minn.).
With the win, the team now awaits the result of the Saint Benedict game against Concordia this evening to see where their seeding will end up. With a Bennie win in regulation, the Gusties will earn the No. 4 seed and host a game on Wednesday evening, but if Saint Benedict loses or goes to overtime, the Gusties will finish as the No. 3 seed and hit the road on Saturday.
The first five minutes of the game proved to be a sneak peek into what the fans could expect for the rest of the game from the Gusties, coming out firing and putting the Pipers on the back foot. Hamline was, though, able to find the back of the net on their first shot of the game, going against the momentum of the game and finding the top corner over sophomore goaltender
Lily Timmons' (Lake Elmo, Minn.) left shoulder. Hamline settled in after scoring the first goal and held a slight advantage in shots, 8-7, but only snuck the first past Timmons and sent the teams into the locker room within one goal.
In the second period, the teams remained relatively even throughout the first 10 minutes, with each time firing shots off but nothing giving either way. The momentum seemed to shift slightly in the favor of the Gusties and senior
Lily Mortenson (Champlin, Minn.) drew a penalty, setting up the first power play opportunity of the game for the home team. Gustavus was 0-for-6 last night on the power play in St. Paul, but immediately snapped the dry spell, scoring on their first time of asking.
After a few shots on goal,
Grace Schuck struck and tied the game at one, after a beautiful passing play by Mortenson and sophomore defender
Eva Nelson (Buffalo, Minn.) who passed back and forth until Mortenson fired the puck across the width of the zone and found Schuck with room to shoot. The Bloomington, Minn. native found an open spot just over the left pad of the Piper goaltender on the near post, her second goal of the season and second in as many games. Sophomore
Noelle Hemr (Blaine, Minn.) would draw a penalty with just three minutes left in the period after being pushed down by two Pipers away from the play and it looked like Schuck would have one more, but the Hamline goaltender would go on to make two acrobatic saves and keep the game tied with 20 to play.
The Gusties' dominance in the second period was shown in shots on goal and in faceoffs, both topping the Pipers by a wide margin. In terms of shots on goal, Gustavus held an 18-3 advantage and in faceoffs, the home team won 11 of 15 to climb back to all square.
The pressure in the second period seemed to be a ticking time bomb, as the Gusties exploded for three goals in the third period to earn a weekend split with the No. 3/7 team in the country. Ackerman found the net for the first time in her career, scoring just 56 seconds into the period, taking a shot from the right side point and finding the top left corner of the net. The second goal of the period and the third overall came as Domschot found a rebound right in front of the net after a scrum behind the goal line, scoring unassisted just three minutes after the goal that gave the Gusties the lead.
Coming into the weekend, Hamline owned the sixth best power-play percentage in the country, operating at a 27.1 percent clip, but Gustavus was able to kill off a penalty after making it a two-goal game and keep it that way. Just seconds after the penalty expired, junior
Kylie Scott (Dayton, Minn.) capitalized on a miscommunication from the Pipers, scoring on a rebound from a breakaway for her eighth goal of the season. Of players who have played in over half the games this season, Scott owns the best shooting percentage, scoring 10.8 percent of the time when she shoots the puck.
The team was able to ride out the three-goal lead and earn three points on the weekend. The team dominated offensively, taking 35 shots on goal and going 1-for-3 on the powerplay, as well as winning 30 of 53 faceoffs. Individually, sophomore
Kaitlin Roberts (Hugo, Minn.) led with five shots on goal while both Ackerman and sophomore
Ellie Groebner (Apple Valley, Minn.) both had a +3 rating.
As mentioned, the women's hockey team is still waiting for their fate after making the MIAC Playoffs. More details will be provided as they become available.
