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  • Gustavus Adolphus College's Allie Schwab gets sandwiched between St. Mary's University's Mackenzie Klimek (26) and Haley Coolsaet (5) during the first period Saturday in St. Peter. Pat Christman

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February 12, 2012

Gusties clinch eighth straight women's MIAC hockey crown

Gustavus routs St. Mary's

By Jim Rueda Free Press Sports Editor

ST PETER — Mike Carroll’s new favorite number is 8.

That’s how many Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships his women’s hockey team have won in a row. The Gusties clinched their eighth-straight title Saturday afternoon at Don Roberts Ice Rink with a 5-0 shutout of St. Mary’s.

“It’s nice. It’s always one of our goals,” Carroll said. “But we still have a lot we need to get done.”

After crunching the same St. Mary’s team 8-2 on Friday, a let down could have been anticipated Saturday.

But that didn’t happen as Gustavus dominated from start to finish, outshooting the Cardinals 42-6.

“In this conference teams always come out hard the second night no matter what happened the first night,” said Gustavus’ Meagan Wanecke, who finished with a goal and an assist. “It doesn’t matter if it was 2-1 or 8-0, they still come out strong. That’s what St. Mary’s did today but we were ready for them.”

Wanecke ended up scoring the game-winner in the first period when teammate Melissa Doyle poke-checked the puck away from a defender at the St. Mary’s blue line and pushed it ahead to Wanecke. The junior forward skated in a short-handed breakaway against goalie Sarah Gustafson and picked the upper-right corner for a 1-0 Gustavus lead with just six seconds left in the period.

Gustavus outshot St. Mary’s 11-0 in the opening frame. The Cardinals regrouped and finally put some shots on net in the second, but it was the Gusties who did all the scoring.

Lindsay Hjelm initiated the second score when she knocked the puck loose from a defenseman behind the St. Mary’s goal line. Wanecke picked it up and sent it out front to a waiting Jenna Christensen who deposited the six-foot shot.

Before the period was over, the Gusties scored twice more. Carolyn Draayer put in a rebound of a Hjelm slap shot from the point and Marissa Brandt whacked in a point-blank power-play shot on Gustafson’s stick side.

“We wanted to make sure that we finished today,” Wanecke said. “We started out the year averaging about seven goals a game and then we went into a little slump. Now we’re getting back up there again.”

Carroll agreed: “Our players went through a little rough patch where we weren’t scoring as much but it looks like we’re starting to turn that around. We didn’t do a whole lot in the first period today but we got going in the second and third.”

Hjelm finished the game with three assists and back-up goalie Marah Sobczak stopped all six shots to earn the shutout. Hjelm is a converted forward and Carroll said the junior has played well at the blueline this year.

“She’s done a very nice job,” he said. “She’s a physical player and sometimes that got her into trouble as a forward but it seems to suit her a little better as a defender. She’s a team player and she had absolutely no qualms about making the move.”

Saturday’s win improves Gustavus to 18-1-2 overall and 12-0-1 in the MIAC. The Gusties are back in action Friday with a 7 p.m. game against St. Olaf in St. Peter.

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