MIAC Women’s Hockey Notebook – December 6, 2021

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) women’s hockey teams are set for one more week of play before the calendar turns to 2022. Thirteen non-conference games are scheduled over the next five days. Following Saturday’s calendar-year finale, MIAC squads will be back on the ice as early as New Year’s Day to begin the second half of the 2021-22 schedule.

STAT PACK
The latest MIAC women’s hockey Stat Pack as of Monday, December 6, 2021 can be viewed here.

POLL TALK
Gustavus held strong at no. 6 in the latest USCHO.com Division III Top 10 Poll, released on December 6. Hamline also received six points in the balloting.

Gustavus ranks fourth in Division III in the most recent PairWise rankings. Hamline is No. 18 and St. Scholastica is No. 21.

NATIONAL NOTABLES
Augsburg first-year forward Emily Cronkhite has a pair of short-handed goals this season, tied for second-most in NCAA Division III.

Concordia junior forward McKenzie Oelkers tallied three assists against St. Olaf on 11/19, tied for the ninth-most in any D-III game this season.

Gustavus senior forward Tina Press has three game-winning goals this season, tied for fourth-most in NCAA Division III.

Gustavus junior forward Hailey Holland ranks tenth in NCAA Division III this season with an average of 1.14 assists per game.

Gustavus sophomore forward Brooke Power has three power-play goals this season, tied for ninth-most in D-III.

Gustavus junior goaltender Katie McCoy has a goals-against average of 0.143 this season, second-lowest in NCAA Division III. Her save percentage of 0.989 also ranks second in the country while her six shutouts not only lead Division III but double the total of the next closest goalie.

Hamline junior forward Sophie Rausch is averaging 1.00 goals per game this season, tied for the seventh-best average in D-III.

Saint Benedict senior forward Julia Pias had three assists against Saint Mary’s on 11/20, tied for ninth-most in any Division III game this season.

St. Olaf junior forward Annika Patterson has two short-handed goals this season, tied for second-most in D-III. Both goals came against Concordia on 11/20, giving her the second-most short-handed goals in any D-III game this season.

AROUND THE MIAC
Augsburg junior goaltender Mara McClain recorded the third shutout of her collegiate career in a 3-0 win against Concordia on 12/4. She had 23 saves in the win, marking her fourth straight game with at least 20 saves this season.

Bethel senior forward Grace Halvorson scored a goal in both games against St. Catherine over the weekend. Halverson has a five-game scoring streak that also includes a pair of assists.

Concordia first-year forward Abbey Hardwick scored all three goals in the Cobbers’ come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Augsburg on 12/3. Hardwick has six goals this season, with all six goals coming via a pair of hat tricks.

Gustavus senior goaltender Katie McCoy did not allow a goal and made 29 saves as the Gusties swept Saint Benedict 2-0 and 5-0 over the weekend. McCoy made 16 saves on 12/3 and then another 13 on 12/4. She has set the program record with six consecutive shutouts. Since allowing the only goal of the season in the first game this year, McCoy has made 84 consecutive saves without allowing a goal.

Hamline junior forward Sophie Rausch engineered the Pipers in their weekend sweep of St. Scholastica that consisted of 5-2 and 3-1 victories. Rausch netted a hat trick, and nine shots on goal in Hamline’s 5-2 victory over the Saints on 12/3. She accumulated three goals and one assist for four points on 12 shots for the weekend.

Saint Benedict senior goaltender Maggie Gilchrist made a season-best 33 saves in a 2-0 loss to Gustavus on 12/3. Her previous season-high was 25 saves, which she tallied against both UW-Eau Claire (10/30) and Saint Mary’s (11/19).

St. Catherine junior forward Laura Denchfield scored the game-winning goal in overtime against Bethel on 12/4 to give the Wildcats their first MIAC win of the year. Denchfield has found the back of the net in two of the team’s three victories so far this season.

Saint Mary’s first-year forward Kas Kingston had a hand in three of the Cardinals’ four goals, scoring twice – including on a game-winner in overtime – as Saint Mary’s swept St. Olaf in a weekend conference series. Kingston kicked off the weekend by scoring Saint Mary’s first goal – her first in a Cardinal uniform – and assisting on the late, third-period game-winner in SMU’s 2-1 road win over the Oles on 12/3. The following afternoon, Kingston assisted on the team’s opening goal and scored one of her own 13 seconds into overtime to give the Cards their second straight 2-1 victory, and a sweep of their conference series with the Oles.

St. Olaf first-year forward Iona Welsch scored a goal to tie the game early in the third period of the Oles’ overtime loss to Saint Mary’s on 12/4. It was her first point since tallying two goals and an assist in the first four games of the year.

St. Scholastica sophomore forward Ashley Healy accounted for the Saints’ offense in a 3-1 loss to Hamline on 12/4. It was her first goal of the season and her first point since tallying an assist on 11/19 at Augsburg.

UP NEXT
Tuesday, December 7 | MIAC App | MIAC Scoreboard | MIAC Live
7:00 PM | Augsburg at UW-Superior
7:00 PM | UW-Eau Claire at Hamline

Wednesday, December 8 | MIAC App | MIAC Scoreboard | MIAC Live
7:00 PM | UW-River Falls at Gustavus
7:00 PM | Saint Benedict at Bethel

Friday, December 10 | MIAC App | MIAC Scoreboard | MIAC Live
7:00 PM | UW-Eau Claire at Concordia
7:00 PM | UW-Superior at St. Catherine
7:00 PM | St. Olaf at Northland
7:00 PM | Augsburg at UW-Stevens Point

Saturday, December 11 | MIAC App | MIAC Scoreboard | MIAC Live
2:00 PM | UW-Eau Claire at Concordia
2:00 PM | St. Olaf at Northland
2:00 PM | St. Catherine at UW-Superior
2:05 PM | Gustavus at UW-River Falls
3:00 PM | Augsburg at St. Norbert

*MIAC game

LEAGUE LEADERS