The Gustavus Adolphus College men’s hockey team will face St. Mary’s University in an important MIAC series. Gustavus enters the weekend with an overall record of 6-9-0, including a conference record of 3-3-0. After their series split against Hamline, the Gusties find themselves in a tie for fourth place in the MIAC with Bethel. Right behind Gustavus for the final playoff spot is St. Mary’s. Coach Petersen’s squad is led in scoring by junior defensemen Keith Detlefsen with 19 points (9g, 10a). Junior goaltender Erik Kraska has four out of the six victories for Gustavus, including a 2.60 goals against average while stopping over 91% of the shots he has faced. Kraska gave up only one goal in the 6-1 victory over Hamline on Saturday.
St. Mary’s comes into the weekend with an overall record of 6-10-1, and a conference mark of 2-5-1. The Cardinals were swept by St. John’s last weekend, losing Friday night’s game 3-2 in overtime. St. Mary’s is led in scoring by junior forward Mike Bry with 19 points (5g, 14a). Senior forward Chad Damerow has 88 career points in 92 career games for the Cardinals, including 17 points (5g, 12a) this season.
If either team can earn a sweep this weekend, they will have a major edge on the fifth and final playoff spot in the MIAC. Gustavus leads St. Mary’s by one point in the conference standings, and also has two conference games in hand over the Cardinals. The conference season is half way through its schedule, and the playoff race is starting to heat up. Gustavus leads the all-time series against St. Mary’s with a 58-32-6 record. The Cardinals took three out of the four points in last year’s series posting a 3-3 tie in St. Peter followed by a St. Mary’s victory 4-1 in Winona.
Saturday night’s game is scheduled to start at 7:05pm, and will be broadcast live from Gustavus , Click Here , by Josh Winter.