The Gustavus men's hockey team finished the MIAC showcase with a record of 1-1.
Blaine, Minn. – The Gustavus Adophus men’s hockey team suffered its first loss of the season to the University of St. Thomas on Sunday afternoon at the final day of the MIAC Showcase, which was held over the weekend at Fogerty Arena. With the scored tied at 1-1 after the opening period, St. Thomas used four unanswered goals over the second and third periods to skate away with a 5-3 win.
Gustavus went 1-1-0 over the weekend at the MIAC Showcase, while St. Thomas went 2-0-0.
It took St. Thomas just :21 seconds to score the game’s opening goal and take a 1-0 lead when Nick Nielsen scored off assists from Alex Altenbernd and Tyler Gubb.
After not capitalizing on their first power play opportunity, Gustavus tied the game on the man-advantage when Corey Leivermann (Sr., North Mankato, Minn.) scored on the power play at the 16:25 Mark. Leivermann was assisted by Gavin Tufte (So., Blaine, Minn.) and Jared Docken (Fr., Northfield, Minn.) on the play.
Early in the second period at the 1:15 mark, Gustav Bengtson (Sr., Stockholm, Sweden) was sent to the penalty box for tripping, and St. Thomas took advantage on the ensuing power play with a goal by Chris Cass at the 1:54 mark.
Cass’s goal sparked St. Thomas’s four-goal scoring-spree that eventually resulted in a 5-1 lead for the Tommies halfway through the third period. Alex Altenbernd scored at the 7:29 point of the second period, Tyle Gubb hit the back of the net on the power paly at the 6:00 mark of the third, and Thomas William’s capped off the scoring spree with a goal at 8:22 of the third.
Despite scoring two goals within a minute of each other early in the second portion of the final period, Gustauvs eventually ran out of time. Schyler Adams (Jr., New Prague, Minn.) scored off a Zach May (Sr., Prior Lake, Minn.) assist at 12:27, and Darren Lapic (So., New Prague, Minn.) hit the back of the net off dimes from Tyler Lapic (Jr., New Prague, Min.) and Tufte at 13:02.
Gustavus finished 1-for-6 on the power play with a total of 32 shots on goal in the game. The Gusties recorded a combined 28 shots in the first and third frames and just four shots in the second. St. Thomas ended up with 24 shots on goal – 12 of which came while on the power play. The Tommies went 2-for-4 on the man-advantage.
Gustauvs goaltender Patrick Sullivan (Sr., Kelowna, B.C.) suffered the loss after allowing five goals and making 16 saves in 48:22 minutes. John McLean (So., Eagan, Minn.) relieved Sullivan and recorded three saves in 10:37 minutes of work.
St. Thomas goalie Drew Fielding went all 60 minutes, allowing three goals and making 29 saves.
The Gustavus men’s hockey team will be in action next weekend when it hits the road for a pair of non-conference games against WIAC opponents. The Gusties will travel to Stevens Point, Wis. to take on UW-Stevens Point at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The Black and Gold will then make the trek to Menomonie, Wis. on Saturday to face UW-Stout at 7:30 p.m.