Box Score STEVENS POINT, Wis. –
Cassandra Salmen (Stillwater, MN/Stillwater) scored a third-period hat trick to give No. 5 UW-Stevens Point a 5-2 non-conference win over No. 8 Gustavus Adolphus in a battle between two top-10 teams on Friday night at Ice Hawks Arena.
Box Score
With the score knotted at 2-2 through two periods of play, Salmen exploded for three goals in the final period for the Pointers (13-2-1). Salmen's first two goals came in the first seven minutes of the final period and both were assisted by
Allie Tanzer (Chippewa Falls, WI/Chippewa Falls) and
Emily Lester (Eau Claire, WI/Memorial). The senior capped her hat trick with a short-handed goal at the 15:15 mark.
The win was the first for UWSP over Gustavus since February 5, 2008. The Gusties had won the last seven meetings and were unbeaten in the last nine encounters.
Gustavus Adolphus (7-3-2) took a 1-0 lead on a short-handed goal by Allison Eder-Zdechlik at the 12:56 mark of the first period. The Pointers evened the score at 1-1 on
Nicole Schaub (Vadnais Heights, MN/White Bear Lake)'s second goal of the season at 15:28 on assists by Shanua Bollinger and
Rachel Reynard (Hortonville, WI/Hortonville).
UW-Stevens Point took its first lead of the game on
Janel Winters (Fairbanks, AK/West Valley)' second goal of the year just one minute into the second period but the Gusties made it 2-2 on Halie Gudmonson's power-play goal just over six minutes later, setting the stage for Salmen's big third period.
UWSP held a 35-32 advantage in shots on goal in the game, led by six each by Salmen and
Hannah Smith (Spokane, WA/East Valley), who assisted Winters' goal.
Janna Beilke-Skoug (Madison, WI/East) earned her 10th win of the season by making 30 saves, including 14 in the third period. Tara Hoverstad took the loss, making 30 saves for Gustavus.
The Gusties entered the game with the 10th-best power play in the country (21.82) percent and got one goal on five opportunities, while the Pointers were 0-for-2.
The two teams finish the weekend series on Saturday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. at Ice Hawks Arena.
