SAINT PETER, Minn. — Tina Press (Sr., Cottage Grove) and Emily Olson (Sr., Delano) combined for six points, leading the Gusties to a 5-2 MIAC victory over Saint Benedict Friday night. With the win, the Gusties improve to 7-0-0 in the MIAC and 12-1-0 overall.
Tina Press started the Gusties off strong, netting her first of the game on the power play, taking a feed from Olson and Lily Mortenson (Fy., Champlin) to beat Bennie goaltender Ally Frantzick.
And Press and Olson weren’t done yet — not even close.
The two found themselves on the power play again just 1:29 later, and recreated their earlier magic, as a bouncing puck found its way to the stick of Olson in front of the crease, leaving it for Press to knock home for a 2-0 Gustie lead.
Brooke Power (Jr., Lakeville) pushed the lead to three, rifling a shot from the right circle for her eighth of the year. The Gusties netted one more before the end of the period, but this time it was Olson who put one between the pipes, taking a feed from Hailey Holland (Sr., Aberdeen, S.D.) to put the Gusties ahead by four heading into the second period.
Holland became the third Gustie with a multiple point night when she netted her fourth of the year 14 minutes into the second. Olson tacked on one more assist on what would be the Gusties’ last goal of the game, as Saint Benedict held off the fierce Gustavus offense for the remainder of the night.
The Bennies used some late momentum to their advantage, breaking Katie McCoy’s (Sr., Grafton, Wis.) shutout late into the second period. The Bennies cut the lead to three in an otherwise scoreless third, capitalizing on the power play halfway through the final 20.
Both teams had plenty of time to practice special teams, with a combined 16 penalties between the two teams.
“Our power play has been good, but I was a bit disappointed in our penalty kill tonight,” said Head Coach Mike Carroll. “That’s usually one of our strengths. We needed some game experience with it, but we’ll have to make some adjustments for tomorrow.”
“It’s always good to get a win, especially coming back from the break, and we’re looking forward to tomorrow.”
The Gusties face Saint Benedict again tomorrow night, heading to St. Cloud for the 4 p.m. MIAC rematch.