Good athletes like to be challeneged. The Piper women's hockey team gets a big one this weekend when they face one of only two college sextets that are undefeated and untied in 2012-13. 

Weirdly, when the Pipers hit the ice Friday night  at 7:05 p.m.at Don Roberts rink in St. Peter and Saturday at 2:00 p.m. at Warner Coliseum, they will face a Gustavus Adolphus team that isn't ranked No. 1 in the country. But the Gusties are 16-0-0 this year and have outscored their foes so far by a 51-16 margin. 

Nuff said about a challenge, right?

Hamline comes into the series on a decent run of its own. HU has lost just once in its last seven games to improve to 5-8-4 overall, 2-6-2 in the MIAC. Last weekend, they held off a late surge to defeat St. Benedict, 3-2, at the Coliseum, Jan. 24 Two days later in St. Cloud, Sarah Schneekloth was perfect in goal, stopping all 42 Blazer blasts sent her way in the first scoreless tie in HU women's hockey history. 

Last year, the Pipers gave the Gusties all they wanted, losing a pair of one-goal games, 3-2, at home and 2-1 in St. Peter.