Luke Siegle – Staff Writer
Over the weekend the Gustavus Women’s Hockey team locked up the regular season MIAC crown with a pair of wins over the St. Scholastica Saints. A 3-2 overtime victory last Thursday gave the Gusties the number one seed and home ice throughout the MIAC playoffs. On Saturday, the Gusties completed their regular season on a high note by shutting out Scholastica 3-0 to end their regular season with a record of 19-3-2. The shutout, which occurred on the team’s Senior Night, gave them 14 on the season which leads the country and is also a program record.
To claim the MIAC regular-season crown the Gusties needed to beat St. Scholastica once. Facing Scholastica on the road in game one, the Gusties fell behind quickly as the Saints scored 1:35 seconds into the first period to take the lead. The Gusties responded though as Junior Molly McHugh found the back of the net on the power-play at the 6:54 mark for her 7th goal on the season. The goal was assisted by Senior captain Tina Press and Junior Hailey Holland. The score stayed knotted up through one. In the second period, although the Gusties outshot the Saints 26-4 both teams scored one goal each to make the score 2-2 going into the final period.
For the Gusties, it was Senior captain Kayla Vrieze scoring her third goal of the season 5:27 into the second period. On the assist was Sophomore forward Brooke Power. The Saints got their goal a couple of minutes later to tie up the score. In the third, neither team could find the net. The Gusties, once again, outshot the Saints by more than two to one but had nothing to show for it. When the final buzzer sounded the score was still 2-2 meaning there would be overtime hockey. In overtime, the Gusties outshot the Saints yet again, and this time had something to show for it.
Power found the back of the net for her 17th goal on the season and with it, the Gusties earned the top seed going into the playoffs. “It was a really tough game, but one of the best. The win felt worth it and after the game we celebrated and it was very energetic, but during the game it was very intense. Once it happened though it was a very exciting moment for us,” Senior Gabby Slykas said after the game.
In the second game of the series against the Saints, the Gusties concluded their season with another victory and another shutout. It was an especially sweet win given the fact that it was Senior Day. After each team went scoreless in the first period, Senior Jamie Byrne scored her first goal of the season 8:56 into the second. Senior defender Jordyn Peterson was credited with her 6th assist of the year. Later in the second Junior Clara Billings recorded her fifth goal of the season on the power-play to put the Gusties up 2-0 after two periods of play.
Junior Lindsey Bjerke was rewarded with her second assist on the season. In the third, Power increased the lead to 3-0 with her MIAC leading 18th goal on the season. Junior Emily Olson chipped in for the assist, her 13th of the season. 3-0 was where the score would remain and with it, the Gusties finished on a high note to end the season. Both goalies, Junior Katie McCoy and First-year Maria Widen, shined as they led Gustavus to the shut-out.
Together they stopped all 13 of the Saint’s shots. “It’s been really cool to see Maria develop. She has gotten so much better over the season. We work really well together and have good chemistry,” McCoy said when talking about the goalies relationship. The two goalies level of play has not only affected each other, but also the other players on the team. “It’s amazing. It’s our goalies all the way. It challenges the rest of us to stay strong and play our game,” Slykas said.
With the regular season in the books the Gusties will now look towards the MIAC postseason. They will face the winner of St. Kate’s v Concordia this Saturday at Don Roberts Ice Rink. With that on the horizon the teams mindset will continue to remain the same.
“We want to continue to have fun as a team. Keep our relationships building and growing because that makes us work well on the ice together. We want to keep our intensity and desire to keep growing as a team,” Slykas said.
Another big advantage for the Gusties is that they will spend the entirety of the playoffs at home. “It’s a great confidence booster, really looking forward to having games at home rather than having to travel. We seem to play a lot better at home then away,” McCoy said. On Saturday, the team will take their first step on a hopefully long playoff journey that will take them beyond the MIAC playoffs, but for this team their mindset won’t change: have fun and take it one day at a time.