Kevin Sethre, Staff Writer

The women’s hockey team lost three of their first four games against Hamline and Gustavus a few weeks ago.

After losing 6-0 to the 5th-ranked Pipers at home on Nov. 15, the Auggies traveled to St. Paul the following day and found themselves down 2-0 early in the second period. Jenna Gerold scored an unassisted goal 9:10 into the period to put Augsburg on the board. Bridget Wagner tied the game with a power-play goal 9:43 into the third. Hamline took the lead again less than three minutes later. Still, Katie Flynn brought the Auggies level again with just over three minutes remaining in the game. With 1:16 left on the clock, Hannah Gold scored to give Augsburg the 4-3 upset win.

The Auggies then hosted the Gusties on Nov. 22. McKenna Ellena scored 17:31 into the first to tie it after the visitors opened the scoring. Gustavus scored three unanswered goals to make it 4-1 before Emily Ach scored her team-leading third goal to bring the Auggies within two with 1:03 left, but that would be all for the Auggies.

The following afternoon, Augsburg lost 1-0 to Gustavus in St. Peter. The lone goal came early in the second period. Since the two teams first faced off in Jan. of 1999, the Auggies are 7-36-3 against the Gusties.

While the start of the season has been difficult, Augsburg should start to improve soon. Coming from behind to upset the Pipers and holding Gustavus to a single goal on the road are both steps in the right direction. They had to open the MIAC schedule by playing two top-ten opponents. The Auggies do not have to play another ranked team until they play UW-River Falls on Jan. 10.