ST. PETER, Minn. — There's something about playing Gustavus that leaves the Saint Mary's University women's hockey team fit to be tied.
Heading into Friday's opening game of their two-game Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference series against the Gusties — currently ranked No. 1 in the country in the latest USCHO.com Poll — have battled GAC to a tie at least once in each of the last four seasons.
If the Cardinals are going to make that five years in a row, however, they will have to rely on Saturday's rematch.
On Friday, Saint Mary's got a first-hand look at why Gustavus is unbeaten and atop the NCAA Division III heap, as the Gusties made the Cardinals their ninth straight victim, dealing SMU a 4-0 setback at Don Roberts Ice Arena.
Gustavus controlled play through the game's opening 20 minutes, outshooting Saint Mary's 16-2 — including back-to-back goals by Brooke Power and Emily Olson — to take a 2-0 lead into the locker room at the first intermission.
The Gusties peppered Saint Mary's goalie
Jordan Keeley (St. Peter, Minn.) with 12 more shots in the second period — and slipped a third one past the Cardinal senior on Olson's second of the game at 16:39 — to give GAC a commanding 3-0 cushion entering the game's final 20 minutes.
Gustavus would tack on an empty net goal by Lily Mortenson late in the third period to seal the win — its ninth in as many games this season.
Keeley, who made 88 saves in SMU's MIAC split against Augsburg on Nov. 18-19 — including a career-high 49 stops in the second game — finished with 30 saves against the Gusties. GAC goalie Katie McCoy, meanwhile, stopped all 16 Saint Mary's shots in recording the shutout.
Saint Mary's (1-4-0 MIAC, 1-8-0 overall) will get another shot at the top-ranked Gusties when the teams head to the Saint Mary's Ice Arena on Saturday for their 2 p.m. conference rematch.
