SAINT PETER, Minn. — The Gustavus women’s hockey team rolled to a 3-2 MIAC victory over Hamline at Don Roberts Ice Rink Friday night, scoring two shorthanded goals against the Pipers to win their 12th MIAC game of the season, improving to 17-3-0 overall and 12-1-0 in conference play.
Despite a 0-0 score after the first, the play was mostly one-sided. The Gustie offense was humming like a well-oiled machine through period one, totaling 21 shots on goal, while the Pipers managed just one on Katie McCoy (Sr., Grafton, Wis.).
The Gusties, who hold the national lead in power play goals, turned the tables against the Pipers, as Hailey Holland (Sr., Aberdeen, S.D.) netted a shorthanded tally to give the Gusties the 1-0 lead in the second period. Holland intercepted the Pipers’ power play passing, winning the foot race into the offensive zone and netting her 10th of the season over the left shoulder of Piper goaltender Maddie Nickell. Just five minutes later, Tina Press (Sr., Cottage Grove) found a feed from Holland in front of the Piper net to give the Gusties a 2-0 lead heading into the final period.
Press wasn’t done for the night though, as she found herself on the penalty kill for the Gusties, recreating the same shorthanded magic as Holland had in the period before. Press pushed the Pipers off the puck to net her second goal of the game and second shorthanded goal of the season, walking across the crease to slide one past Nickell for a 3-0 lead.
“We’ve been working on our penalty kill extra hard lately, just trying to get all four players in sync in our own end,” said Head Coach Mike Carroll. “We always knew we had the ability to turn it around in our favor and get some shorties, and we’ve had some already. Both goals were just great efforts, using our body to turn the puck over in our favor.”
The Gusties’ third goal was met with response from the Pipers, who netted a power play goal just 36 seconds later. Putting one past McCoy gave the Pipers a bit of momentum to finish the period, as they closed the Gustie lead within one, scoring another with eight minutes remaining in the game.
The Gusties held strong to close out the period for their 12th MIAC win. McCoy finished with nine saves between the pipes, while Nickell turned aside 46 Gustie shots, including 10 off the stick of Holland. With her goal and assist against the Pipers, Hailey Holland has seven points in her last four games.
“It’s nice to get the win. At this point in the season, that’s what really counts. We have to learn our lesson in a 60 minute game that all the hard work we did early can turn on a dime, and it certainly did. Their first goal gave them life, but we held on. Each game is a learning experience and hopefully it will make our team better and we’ll be ready to go tomorrow.”
The Gusties are back in action against the Pipers tomorrow at TRIA Rink in St. Paul for a 2 p.m. series finale.