MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. – Goaltender Alise Riedel closed the door late to give the St. Thomas women’s hockey team a 3-1 victory over Gustavus Adolphus Saturday at St. Thomas Ice Arena.

Riedel made multiple clutch saves in the final minutes while St. Thomas (15-5-3, 11-2-2) was on the penalty kill as time expired.

The Tommies came into the game trailing the Gusties (15-5-2, 13-2) by two points in the MIAC standings. Friday night the Tommies traveled to St. Peter and came away with a disappointing 5-1 defeat against the Gusties. With two games remaining in the MIAC regular season, the Tommies are now tied in points with Gustavus and share the top spot in conference standings.

Coach Tom Palkowski said he was proud of they way his team performed coming off Friday’s loss.

“It clearly wasn’t a 5-1 game last night,” Palkowski said. “It was one of those games that the puck didn’t bounce our way. Give our girls a lot of credit, they knew the task that they had in from of them, and they played lights out,” Palkowski added. “So, I’m pretty proud of the squad.”

It was apparent the Tommies had a determined mindset coming into the game, and it started with Riedel.

“We knew we competed with them last night even though the scoreboard didn’t really show it,” Riedel said. “It’s our barn, and it was time to win.”

The Tommies came out firing Saturday afternoon with a quick goal from forward Courtney Umland. Umland’s fifth goal of the season came just 1:49 into the first period. Forward Jenny Saxon was credited with her sixth assist on the season.

Riedel added, “We always know if we score early, we will probably score often, and it’s always nice to have a little jump in your step when you get on the ice. That’s what we tried to do.”

The momentum continued for St. Thomas after killing off a penalty assessed to forward Kelsey Barnier. St. Thomas did not allow a single shot on the Gusties’ power play.

Physicality, an aggressive forecheck and strong defense highlighted the first period for the Tommies. St. Thomas did not allow a shot on goal the first 13 minutes of the game and outshot Gustavus 11-4 in the first period.

The Tommies also started the second period off with an exclamation point, scoring 30 seconds after the puck dropped. Defender Hannah Bird netted the second goal for the Tommies, her fourth of the season.

“Honestly, I knew I just had to put the puck to the net,” Bird said. “That was our big mindset to just put everything on net.”

Gustavus killed two penalties in the second period, both assessed to forward Leah Johnson, for tripping and checking. The Gusties were 4-4 on the penalty kill for the game.

“It’s one of those things that seems like it’s streaky. You’ll score three or four in maybe twenty, and then you go dry for awhile,” Palkowski said about the Tommies’ power play. “Gustavus put some pressure on it; I felt like we had some good opportunities.”

Early in the third, the Gusties gained some steam from their power play. Defender Nuala Flood’s hooking penalty helped the Gusties score their first goal of the game and cut the Tommie lead in half.

Near the end of a Tommie power play, with about four minutes remaining in the game, forward Christina Rozeske went to the box. The Tommies killed that penalty, but found themselves short-handed after a trip by forward Lauren Mumm, leaving the door open one last time for Gustavus. However, the Gusties could not convert on the power play.

“They just did their job,” Riedel said. “I think it showed all over the ice today … I think we played 60 minutes of hockey.”

St. Thomas scored a final time on a short-handed, empty-net goal by forward Karina Marette. Marette’s goal sealed a 3-1 victory for the Tommies.

“I’m usually not one to be out there on penalty kill … we’ve usually had a pretty strong (penalty kill),” Marette said. “Letting up their goal on the penalty kill, we knew we had to make up for that by keeping strong and that’s what we did.”

The Tommies conclude the regular season next weekend with a series against St. Ben’s.

“All we can do is take care of our two games next weekend,” Palkowski said. “It’s not going to be easy games at St. Ben’s. We need to enjoy the moment, and then get back ready and focused Monday.”

Jordan Kruger can be reached at krug6172@stthomas.edu.