St. Thomas forward Sarah Moy seeds past Gustavus forward Jordyn Peterson for her first goal of the game in the 3rd period for the Tommies. (Emma Gurka, TommieMedia)
The No. 1 St. Thomas women’s hockey team swept Gustavus Adolphus College 4-0 in the MIAC semifinal Saturday at St. Thomas Ice Arena.
With another win under their belt, the Tommies (16-1-2 MIAC, 23-1-2 overall) are a step closer to becoming MIAC champions and receiving a NCAA tournament bid.
“You kind of wonder if they forget how to win playoff games after last year and not getting playoffs since we had won quite a few for four or five years in a row,” coach Tom Palkowski said. “It was a great feeling and I’m really proud of the seniors and the kids who didn’t get that playoff game last year.”
The start of the game was a battle on both ends of the ice, but Tommie forward Alyssa Wallace broke through with her 10th goal of the season at the end of the first period.
The Gusties (11-4-4 MIAC, 16-6-5 overall) had an opportunity to score in the second period off a five-on-three power play, but they did not capitalize.
A couple of minutes into the third period Tommie forward Allison Parnell scored, but the momentum halted for a brief period with an injury.
Tommie forward Shae McLean took a skate to the leg and was escorted off the ice to the locker room.
Following McLean’s injury, the Tommies scored two more goals from forward Maddy Fiedler and defenseman Katie Winiecki. 
Junior forward Rachel Werdin glides past a Gustavus defender. (Emma Gurka, TommieMedia)
Tommie goalie Kenzie Torpy made 23 saves and recorded her 12th shutout this season.
“I think our intensity went up after Shae got hurt. We definitely played for her and had a chip on our shoulder to get a couple more,” Winiecki said.
The overall team effort is what propelled the Tommies to another victory.
“We won our battles, wheeled in the (offensive) zone and knew we had to get this done to move onto the championship,” Fiedler said.
The Tommies will play for the MIAC championship March 2 at St. Thomas Ice Arena. Their opponent will be the Hamline Pipers.
Carly Noble can be reached at nobl1781@stthomas.edu.