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The women’s hockey team took the lead in the first minute and never gave it up as St. Thomas cruised to a 4-0 conference win against St. Olaf Friday. The Tommies improved to 5-3-1 on the season, including a 5-1-1 conference record.

“The win going into the long holiday break is huge,” senior Kristen Grossman said. “It’s never fun to sit on a loss for a month.”

The Tommies got goals from four different scorers, including the opening mark just 43 seconds into the game by junior Meghan Parker.

“Four goals from four different players is always good to see,” Grossman said.

St. Thomas outshot St. Olaf 12-2 in the first period, but wasn’t able to find the back of the net again until the second. Freshman Mary Grace Fletcher scored her first collegiate goal to push the lead to two, which would prove to be plenty of goal support for the Tommie goaltenders. Junior Nicole Muske and sophomore Liz Maidi combined for 22 saves and a shutout, the fourth shutout in seven games for St. Thomas.

St. Thomas also had goals from Grossman and sophomore Korinne O’Connor.

“I got a great pass from Maria Bothwell that gave me a pretty clear path to the net,” Grossman said. “I picked a spot and somehow put it away.”

St. Thomas’ next game is Jan. 12 against Eau-Claire.

Jordan Osterman can be reached at jrosterman@stthomas.edu.