Gustavus’ Kyle Menken skates past Hamline’s Devon Brady.
The Gusties celebrate after one of their six goals.
Mike Hosfield wins a face off against the Pipers.
Ben Ollila and Steven Jensen skate into the Hamline zone.
The Gustavus men’s hockey team scored three goals against Hamline University in the final 1:23 of the second period en route to a 6-1 win Saturday night at Don Roberts Rink in St. Peter. The Gusties had six different players score in the win including Keith Detlefsen who had one goal and one assist, while the trio of Mike Hosfield, Reegan Rehm, and Craig Jankowski each added two assists. Gustavus improved to 6-9-0 overall and 3-3-0 in the MIAC, while the Pipers dropped to 4-13-0 overall and 1-7-0 in the MIAC.
Gustavus started the opening period with a near goal at 13:59 as numerous Gusties had chances to slam home multiple deflections. The Gusties came up empty until their first goal following a face off in the Hamline zone at 12:04 by Adam Meyer off an assist from Joe Ulwelling. Gustavus’ Jason Watters scored a mere 29 seconds later at 12:33 off assists from Mike Hosfield and Craig Jankowski giving the Golden Gusties a 2-0 edge heading into the first intermission.
Gustavus’ Jon Keseley scored the Gusties third goal at 5:48 of the second period from just inside the blue line off assists from Mike Hosfield and Craig Jankowski. However, Hamline ended the shutout on a power-play goal from Lubos Taragel at 8:27 with assists from Shane Wagner and Mike Forconi. With the Gusties leading 3-1, Ben Ollila, Keith Detlefsen, and Kylen Menken each scored goals within 1:11 of each other. Ollila’s goal, off assists from Steven Jensen and Trevor Heithoff came at 18:37, while Detlefsen’s score came at 18:59 and Menken’s at 19:48. These three goals gave the Gusties a 6-1 lead after two periods.
Gustavus stayed on the offensive during the final period outshooting Hamline 17-8. The score remained the same for the final period with Gustavus winning 6-1 while outshooting the Pipers 50-21 in the game. Gustavus’ Adam Meyer and Hamline’s Tom Schadegg were both ejected at 13:41 of the final period and will each serve a one-game suspension for their fighting penalties.
The Gusties were 0-2 on the power play, while Hamline only converted on one of nine chances. Gustavus’ Erik Kraska stopped 20-of-21 shots improving to 4-1-0 on the season, while Hamline’s John Harstad stopped 27-of-33 shots and Adam Talantinick stopped a perfect 17-of-17 shots.
Following the five-goal victory, Gusties head coach Brett Petersen said his message to the team before the final period was quite simple. “All I told the team before they went out on the ice for the final period was to finish strong. I told them to play hard for the last twenty minutes and that the scoreboard would take care of itself. One of the few things we can control is how hard we play each game so I simply asked the men to finish off what they had started in the first 40 minutes.
Gustavus will be in action on Friday at Saint Mary’s. Starting time is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.