SAINT PETER, Minn. - Gustavus women's hockey started off the MIAC Playoffs with a 2-0 win over Bethel on Wednesday in the quarterfinal round. Seniors
Grace Schuck (Bloomington, Minn.) and
Lily Mortenson (Champlin, Minn.) provided the goals for the team while sophomore goaltender
Lily Timmons (Lake Elmo, Minn.) held it down defensively with a 26-save shutout.
Gustavus (13-10-2, 10-6-2 MIAC) entered the MIAC Women's Hockey Playoffs as the No. 4 seed and earned the right to host the sole quarterfinal matchup, taking on the No. 5 seed Bethel (14-9-2, 8-8-2 MIAC).
The first period started red hot for the Gusties, with Schuck scoring just 2:50 into the contest to give Gustavus the lead. Junior captain
Kylie Scott (Dayton, Minn.) won a puck battle on the wall and it flared out towards the Bethel goalie, but Mortenson was able to poke the puck to Schuck before the goaltender could cover the puck. Schuck found the puck on her stick and was able to pick her spot to give the Gusties the lead to score her third goal in as many games. Mortenson was saved at point-black range just minutes later, but the shot was saved. Gustavus went on their first power play of the game just past the halfway point in the period and only found one shot on net against the Royals, who came into the game with an 87.0 percent penalty kill percentage, ranking second in the MIAC. First-year
Roz Landkammer (Monticello, Minn.) had the best chance as the power play expired, but did not find the net. The Gusties would go back on the power play 26 seconds after the first one expired, but once again only found one shot.
Junior captain
Avery Braunshausen (Lake Elmo, Minn.) took a penalty with 2:03 remaining on the clock and held the best chances of the period for Bethel, including a shot hitting the post and bouncing around in the crease and hitting the post again with only 10 ticks left on the clock in the period. Timmons was up to the task, though, and the Gusties were able to get away from the period scotch free. Bethel led in shots on goal 12-9 and won 12 of 17 faceoffs in the period, but could not find anything lethal through the first 20.
You would never know that the last 30 seconds of the first period were a brigade of offense for the Royals, as it took the Gusties only 27 seconds to double their lead after coming out of the locker room. Sophomore defender
Eva Nelson (Buffalo, Minn.) fired a shot from the right side point which deflected off the leg of Scott and fell right to Mortenson, who made no mistake, scoring her 11th goal of the season. The top line of Scott, Mortenson, and Schuck did not slow down, as Schuck nearly found her second of the game after a prolonged scrum in front of Timmons sprayed out and Schuck went back the other way.
The second half of the period was where Timmons shined in the second frame, starting with a great point blank save just seven minutes into the period, which was only a glimpse into how the next 13 minutes would go. The Lake Elmo native was called on once again, making a fully-outstretched diving save to keep her shutout and keep the margin at two later in the period, helping the Gusties deal with sustained pressure by Bethel. As the period expired, Mortenson went on a half breakaway with pressure on her back and nearly scored again, but her deke to the backhand side was read and poked away as the horn sounded. The Royals only had one more shot on goal than the Gusties, but the majority of the quality chances were held by Bethel.
The third period proved to be a bit more tame in terms of high-quality chances, but once again, Timmons was called upon and up for the task to keep the shutout. She made a save off a deflection early in the period and teamed up with the five skaters to withstand a span of 2:09 where the puck never left the Gustie defensive zone, until sophomore
Noelle Hemr (Blaine, Minn.) was able to finally skate the puck out. Two first-year classmates,
Talia Domschot (White Bear Lake, Minn.) and
Bauer Ackerman (Bismark, N.D.) were able to collaborate for the best offensive chance of the period, a shot from the point by Ackerman which was deflected by Domschot and hit the left top corner where the posts met and bounced out.
After Bethel pulled their goalie with three minutes left and their season on the line, the team was able to, once again, keep the Royals away including a moment by Timmons where she pounced on top of a loose puck in her crease, weaving through about eight pairs of skates to get there. There were only eight total shots in the final frame, five to the visitors and three to the Gusties. Gustavus won five of seven faceoffs and was able to hold off the Royals, advancing to the MIAC Playoff Semifinal.
Bethel outshot the Gusties, 26-20, but used a shutout performance by Timmons and a combined five points by the top Gustavus line to top Bethel, 2-0. Neither team was whistled for a penalty after the first frame, which served the Gusties well, who have found 34 of their 54 goals this season at even strength.
Gustavus has now advanced to the MIAC Playoff Semifinal every year since 2017 and will travel up to Minneapolis. Augsburg will play host to the Gusties, with a 4:00 p.m. puck drop scheduled on Saturday, February 28th, at Ed Saugestad Rink.
