The Gustavus men’s hockey team tasted defeat for the first time in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Friday night, falling to St. Olaf 2-1 at Northfield Ice Arena. The Oles, who swept Saint John’s from the ranks of the MIAC unbeaten last weekend, held the Gusties without a goal for the final 53 minutes of the game.
Jon Keseley (Jr., St. Louis Park, Minn.) opened the scoring at the 6:37 mark of the first period, putting a shot past Ole goalie Dan Kehler, the reigning MIAC Men’s Hockey Player of the Week. Kyle Rohlfs (So., Fergus Falls, Minn.) and Mike Carr (Fr., Mahtomedi, Minn.) were credited with assists on the play.
From that point forward, though, Kehler exhibited the type of play that garnered him last week’s honor. Kehler picked up 22 of his 29 saves in the game’s final two periods, keeping the Gusties out of the net.
The Oles got on the board late in the first period as Joel Ihrie capitalized on a turnover in the Gustavus zone, putting a shot past Gustavus goalie Erik Kraska (Sr., Plymouth, Minn.) to even the score at 1-1.
Ted Bickel scored the game-winner with 2:50 to play in the second period, firing a shot past Kraska off an assist from John Egge.
Kraska totaled 25 saves, but fell to 9-2-1 on the season.
The Oles improve to 8-5-4 overall, 5-2-2 in the MIAC, while the Gusties fall to 11-4-1 overall, 6-1-0 in the MIAC. Gustavus will face the Oles at 7:05 p.m. Saturday night at Don Roberts Ice Rink in St. Peter.