ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict hockey team’s offense finally kicked into gear over the weekend. In two games against No. 9 Gustavus, the Blazers more than doubled the amount of goals they had scored in their first six games of the season.
The goal-scoring frenzy was helpful, but the Blazers’ real star was between the pipes for more than two hours this weekend.
First-year goalie Angel Hillstrom had a career weekend in net for CSB, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. She finished the weekend with 75 saves and helped the Blazers – who were winless in the MIAC heading into the season – tie and beat the Gusties. For her big weekend, Hillstrom has been named the CSB Athlete of the Week.
In the first game of the weekend, Hillstrom stopped 37 shots to help the Blazers to a 2-2 overtime tie with the Gusties. She had 13 first-period saves, 10 in both the second and third periods and four in overtime to keep Gustavus off the board and keep CSB in the game. Both of Gustavus’ goals came on the power play, and Hillstrom stopped several other power-play shots to keep the game even.
Hillstrom, a Robbinsdale native, was even better in the second game. The Blazers were outshot 30-10 in the first two periods, but Hillstrom made 28 saves to keep CSB’s chances at the upset alive. She made 16 first-period saves and 12 more in the second, and finished with 10 saves in the third period and overtime.
In two games against one of the top-10 teams in the country, Hillstrom finished with 75 saves, a .949 save percentage and a 1.66 goals-against average.
After her huge weekend, Hillstrom is at the top of the MIAC with 204 saves in six games played, and she is averaging 34 saves per game. Her career-high is 40 saves against Hamline. She is fifth in the MIAC with a .944 save percentage and seventh with a 2.0 goals-against average. She is currently tied for 16
th in Division III in save percentage.
Hillstrom and the Blazers are back at home twice more to wrap up the 2015 portion of their schedule. CSB hosts Concordia-Wisconsin in a pair of nonconference games Friday and Saturday, Dec. 11-12. Friday’s game is at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday’s at 1:30 p.m., and both are at the MAC in St. Cloud.
