ST. PETER, Minn. — For the second day in a row, the Saint Mary's University women's hockey team gave top-ranked and defending national champion Gustavus all it could handle.
And, unfortunately for Saint Mary's, for the second day in a row, the Gusties handled all that the Cardinals could give them.
The Gusties extended their winning streak to 18 in a row — and posted their fifth shutout in seven games — dealing Saint Mary's a 3-0 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback Saturday afternoon at Don Roberts Ice Rink.
Coming off a 3-1 win over the Cardinals on Friday — in which Saint Mary's netted the game's first goal and led 1-0 after the opening period — GAC took a different approach this time around, scoring a pair of first-period goals to take control from the get-go.
With first-period goals by Sophia Coltvet and Hailey Holland securely tucked aweay in their back pocket, the Gusties turned defensive, smothering any Cardinal offensive opportunity, and limiting Saint Mary's to just 10 shots on goal.
Brooke Power gave the Gusties a little breathing room with a late, third-period goals, securing GAC's conference sweep of the Cardinals.
Celeste Rimstad (Richfield, Minn.), who finished with 37 saves in Friday's meeting, kicked out 16 of GAC's 19 shots on goal, while Katie McCoy picked up the shutout with her 10-save efforet.
Saint Mary's (3-3-0 MIAC, 7-4-0 overall) closes out the 2023 portion of its schedule on Tuesday, heading to Dubuque, Iowa, for a 7 p.m. nonconference game against the University of Dubuque.
