Adam Smyth battles Brady Horn of UW-River Falls for the puck.
The Gustavus men’s hockey team improved to 3-1-0 on the season with an exciting 2-0 win over UW-River Falls on Saturday night at Don Roberts Ice Rink in St. Peter. Third period goals by Ross Ring-Jarvi and Gustav Bengtson and some clutch goaltending by Tyler Venne allowed the Gusties to slip past the Falcons. The Gusties entered the match ranked #8 in the USCHO.com poll, while the Falcons were ranked #9.
Gustavus Coach Brett Petersen was pleased with the team’s overall effort. He stated, “I thought we played with good energy for 60 minutes. We didn’t get frustrated when our good opportunities didn’t result in goals in the first two periods. The guys just hung in there and we finally broke through on a pretty goal by Ringo (Ross Ring-Jarvi) early in the third period.”
The first two periods saw plenty of action, but no scoring. Gustavus out-shot the Falcons 36-16 in the first 40 minutes of play, but UW-River Falls goaltender Scott Lewan repeatedly turned the Gusties away and the result was a 0-0 tie.
Captain Ross Ring-Jarvi scored the game-winner for Gustavus.
Early in the third period UW-River Falls forward Jason Yuel was penalized two minutes for slashing the goalie giving the Gusties their second power play opportunity of the game. Forty-seven seconds into the power play Ross Ring-Jarvi scored off an assist from Gustav Bengtson giving the Gusties a 1-0 lead.
Gustavus maintained its one goal lead until late in the third period when Gustav Bengtson broke through the UW-River Falls defense and slipped the puck through the legs of Lewan and into the net 1:15 left on the clock. Adam Smyth was credited with an assist on the goal.
Gustie goaltender Tyler Venne registered 22 saves and picked up the first shutout of his collegiate career. Scott Lewan was the tough luck loser for UW-River Falls as he turned away 52 shots.
Gustavus will open conference play next weekend with a series against St. Olaf. The two rivals will play in Northfield on Friday at 7:30 pm and then face-off in St. Peter on Saturday at 7:05 pm.