SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus women's hockey team is set to host Bethel in the first round of the MIAC Women's Hockey Playoffs at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 25th. The Gusties enter the tournament as the No. 4 seed, finishing with 32 points in the MIAC standings and will take on the No. 5 seed, Bethel, who finished with 27 points. The game on Wednesday at Don Roberts Ice Rink is the only quarterfinal matchup for the MIAC Women's Hockey Playoffs and the winner will take on Augsburg at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 28th in Minneapolis.

The Gusties (13-10-2, 10-6-2 MIAC) will take on the Royals (14-9-2, 8-8-2 MIAC) after splitting a weekend series with No. 3/7 Hamline (20-4-1, 14-3-1 MIAC), dropping the first game, 4-2, on Friday before a dominant 4-1 win on Saturday. The win on Saturday brought Gustavus to 32 points and tied with Saint Benedict (14-7-1, 9-6-3 MIAC) in third place in the MIAC standings, but the Bennies claimed the three seed after winning more conference games in regulation than the Gusties. Augsburg (21-3-1, 15-2-1 MIAC) is the No. 1 overall seed in the MIAC Women's Hockey Playoffs, earning a first-round bye and facing the winner of the Gustavus and Bethel matchup at Ed Saugestad Arena. 

TICKET INFORMATION

All tickets will be sold and purchased online via HomeTown Ticketing. There will not be cash sales at any venue; however, spectators can purchase tickets using a mobile device, including while at the venue. General admission is $12, students with ID are $3, children under five are free, MIAC passes are accepted, and all tickets are subject to the Hometown Ticketing service charge. 

PAY-PER-VIEW INFORMATION

The 2026 MIAC Women's Hockey Playoffs will be streamed live on the MIAC Sports Network in a pay-per-view format. Individual playoff contests will be streamed for $10 each, or $25 for a "championship pass" to stream the entire tournament live. On-demand access to playoff games will be available after the NCAA Tournament concludes.

PLAYOFF APPAREL

Official playoff apparel will be available for online purchase via the MIAC Shop powered by UNRestricted MKTG. The online MIAC Shop features officially licensed short-sleeve t-shirts, long-sleeves, and hooded sweatshirts to commemorate the 2026 playoff tournament. Team champion apparel will be added and available for purchase shortly after the championship game.

SEASON SERIES

These two teams faced twice during the regular season, partaking in a weekend series on Friday, January 30th and Saturday, January 31st. On Friday in Saint Peter, it was a low-scoring affair, with the Gusties winning 1-0. Junior captain Kylie Scott (Dayton, Minn.) found the game winner, assisted by fellow captains Lily Mortenson (Sr., Champlin, Minn.) and Avery Braunshausen (Jr., Lake Elmo, Minn.) and sophomore goaltender Lily Timmons (Lake Elmo, Minn.) had the shutout to secure the first win. Gustavus won 37-of-53 faceoffs on the night, forced Bethel to go 0-for-4 on the power play, and took 26 shots compared to 20 from the Royals. 

On night two, the Gusties won again at the Super Rink in Blaine and set some records along the way. The team won 3-2 in overtime, but what stood out more in the box score was the amount of shots on goal and the amount of shot attempts. Gustavus took 63 shots on goal in the contest, their third most in a game since 2017, including 13 by Mortenson. The visiting Gusties were down 1-0 after the first period, but Scott scored her second of the weekend to tie the game after two periods. In the third, Gustavus scored for their first time on the power play that weekend, where Mortenson scored to retake the lead but Bethel responded against the grain of the play to tie the game and eventually send the game to overtime. Sophomore Noelle Hemr (Blaine, Minn.) scored the game-winner for the team, walking in near the right faceoff dot and picking her spot. 

Gustavus got five of six points that weekend, but now, the format of the MIAC Playoff Championship calls for a single-elimination game with the season on the line for both teams, rather than a best-of-three series or another format that is common in other conferences across Division III and Division I. 

Bethel won their last six games of the regular season after losing a pair to the Gusties, sweeping Saint Mary's, Concordia, and St. Olaf. Gustavus faced St. Olaf and Concordia in their first two weekends of the MIAC regular season, going 2-2, all four being one goal games and tied Saint Mary's on both times of asking in the middle of January. Both teams faced UW-Eau Claire in non-conference play with very different fates, Gustavus topping the Blugolds 1-0 in overtime and the Royals dropping their single game against UW-Eau Claire, 7-0. 

Overall, the Gusties own the series history with a record of 54-6-1, including a 29-5-1 record at home. The most recent time the teams faced off in postseason competition was February 24th, 2024 in the MIAC Playoff Semifinal, where Gustavus topped the Royals in overtime, 2-1. Scott scored the game-tying goal with four minutes left and Hailey Holland '23 found the game-winner, assisted by Scott.

SCOUTING THE GUSTIES

Gustavus comes into the contest with a record of 13-10-2 and 10-6-2 in the MIAC. The team has stood strong at home, holding an 8-2-1 record including an undefeated conference record at home this season. 

In terms of team offense, the Gusties have scored 52 goals and have converted 15 times on 78 power play attempts (19.2 percent). Two goals for the team have come shorthanded, three on an empty net, nine unassisted, and three in overtime. Mortenson leads the team with 10 goals and 15 assists for 25 goal contributions, while Hemr and Scott trail shortly behind with nine and eight, respectively. Scott has been clutch all season, leading the team with four game-winning goals, which ranks 14th in the country. Faceoffs have been another strong point for the team, where Gustavus ranks ninth in the country and first in the conference with a 56.7 percent win percentage and Mortenson ranks 20th in the country with 279 faceoff wins alone. 

Defensively, the team has given up 45 goals for a 7 goal margin this season and have only allowed opponents to operate at a 16.9 percent clip (11-for-65) on their power play and average 3.5 penalties per game against the Gusties and 7.0 minutes in the plexiglass prison. The Gustie defense has kept shots away from Timmons and the goaltending collective, only allowing 21 shots per game and blocking another 159 shots throughout the course of the season. 

SCOUTING THE ROYALS 

Bethel starts their postseason with a record of 14-9-2 and 8-8-2 in the MIAC. On the road, the Royals stand at 4-5-1, just below .500 on the season. When the team visited Don Roberts Ice Rink, they failed to find the back of the net and overall have only found 19 of their 66 goals this season on the road. 

Offensively, the team is led by Kallie Tibbetts (Abrahamson), with 11 goals and eight assists. In her last three games, Tibbetts has scored four goals, heating up toward the end of the season. The team has scored 66 goals this season and has gone 11-for-57 (19.3 percent) on the power play. The Royals have proved to be able to work the other way too, ranking 14th in the country and second in the MIAC with three shorthanded goals this season. Gustavus will match up with another team who has won more than half of their faceoffs this season, with the Royals sitting at 51 percent, good for sixth in the MIAC. 

Defensively, Bethel has let in 48 goals, averaging giving up 1.9 per game and holding opponents to a 7.5 percent shooting clip. The Royal penalty kill sits at second in the conference in penalty killing percentage, only allowing nine goals on 69 attempts for a 87.0 percent penalty killing clip. The team has looked to Ashley Gustafson (Hess) mostly in net, playing and starting in 21 games. Gustafson has a 1.73 goals against average and a .936 save percentage. The senior goaltender made 60 saves against Gustavus in an overtime loss at the Super Rink earlier this year and as a team blocked 24 shots in that game, contributing to 189 total this season. 

The winner of the quarterfinal matchup will travel to Ed Saugestad Arena to take on Augsburg at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 28th, with a trip to the MIAC Championship on the line.