Led by a pair of goals each from senior Loren Havemeier (Sleepy Eye, Minn.) and junior Jon Keseley (St. Louis Park, Minn.), the Gustavus men’s hockey team picked up a 5-3 victory in a penalty-filled affair with Saint Mary’s on Saturday in Winona. The Gusties improve to 11-3-1 overall, 6-0-0 in the MIAC, while the Cardinals fall to 2-13-1 overall, 1-7-0 in the league. The teams were called for 86 minutes worth of penalties. Gustavus will face St. Olaf next weekend in a home-and-home series. The teams will play in Northfield on Friday and St. Peter on Saturday.
One night after having a 15-game point streak stopped by the Cardinals, Keseley wasted no time in starting another, scoring a four-on-four even-strength goal at the 11:28 mark of the first period to give Gustavus a 1-0 lead. Steve Dusich (Sr., Apple Valley, Minn.) and Mike Hosfield (Jr., Golden Valley, Minn.) were credited with assists on the play.
Saint Mary’s tied the game with a power-play goal at the 6:58 mark of the second period as David Gross put a shot past Gustavus goalie Erik Kraska (Sr., Plymouth, Minn.) for his fifth goal of the season.
The Gusties took the lead for good with a second goal by Keseley at the 11:07 mark of the period off another assist by Hosfield. Keseley fired a shot from near the blue line which found its way under the pad of Cardinal goalie Curtis Nosal and into the back of the net. An interference call on Saint Mary’s Jesse Polk gave the Gusties the power play opportunity which led to the goal.
A five-minute major penalty called on Saint Mary’s three minutes later set the stage for the flurry of goals that followed. Just 16 seconds into the power play, Havemeier found the back of the net for his 12th goal of the year. Assists were credited to Keith Detlefsen (Sr., Lakeville, Minn.) and Hosfield, who faked a slapshot before making the pass to Havemeier.
Havemeier added his 13th of the year a minute and a half later off assists from Sami Idris (So., Gothenburg, Sweden) and Cody Drysdale (So., Mankato, Minn.) to give Gustavus a 4-1 lead.
Off an ensuing faceoff, Saint Mary’s Adam Gill picked up the puck behind his own goal and went coast-to-coast, wrapping around the Gustavus goal before depositing a shot past Kraska to make the score 4-2.
The Gusties converted on another power play opportunity in the third period as Hosfield scored from point blank range with 13:51 remaining in the game to give Gustavus a 5-2 lead. Dusich and John Arundel (Jr., Eden Prairie, Minn.) were credited with assists on the play.
The Cardinals scored the game’s final goal, as Andy Roberts converted a four-on-four even-strength opportunity with 28 seconds to play to make the score 5-3.
Kraska collected 28 saves while picking up the win in net for Gustavus. He improves to 9-1-1 on the season. Nosal notched 33 saves in the loss to fall to 1-8-0.
With his assist of Havemeier’s first goal, Detlefsen moved one point closer to the 100-point mark for his career. He now has 99 points on 34 goals and 65 assists.
The Gusties, one of the leaders in Division III in power play efficiency finished 4-of-13 with the extra skater taking 19 shots. Saint Mary’s converted one of five opportunities, taking 14 shots.
The Gusties improve to 11-3-1 overall, 6-0-0 in the MIAC, while the Cardinals fall to 2-13-1 overall, 1-7-0 in the league. The teams were called for 86 minutes worth of penalties. Gustavus will face St. Olaf next weekend in a home-and-home series. The teams will play in Northfield on Friday and St. Peter on Saturday.