The Gustavus men’s hockey team earned a split over St. Olaf when they scored a 4-3 overtime victory over the Oles Saturday night in St. Peter. Sami Idris (So., Gothenburg, Swe.) redirected a Loren Havemeier (Sr., Sleepy Eye, Minn.) shot into the net just 70 seconds into the extra session. St. Olaf had tied the game with 45 seconds to play in regulation to force overtime. Havemeier, who scored a goal and an assist, led the Gusties. Gustavus moves to 12-4-1 on the season and 7-1-0 in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play. The Oles’ record falls to 8-6-4 overall, 5-3-2 in the MIAC.
St. Olaf struck first at the 1:32 mark of the first period when John Egge redirected a John Paulson shot from the blue line past Gustie goalie Erik Kraska (Sr., Plymouth, Minn.) to give the Oles a 1-0 lead. Both teams were blanked on their two power play chances in the first period. The Oles outshot Gustavus 9-5.
Gustavus was able to even the game at 1-1 when Cody Drysdale (So., Mankato, Minn.) scored at the 18:20 mark of the second period. Drysdale stole the puck in the offensive zone and shot it top-shelf on Ole goaltender Dan Kehler. The Gusties were able to kill off three Ole power play chances throughout the rest of the second period. Near the end of the second, Gustavus was penalized two minutes for checking from behind, however the Gusties were able to end the period tied.
The Gusties took a 2-1 lead at the 16:40 mark in the third period on a power play goal by Havemeier. Keith Detlefsen (Sr., Lakeville, Minn.) blasted a slap shot, which Havemeier redirected past Kehler. The teams went back and forth until Mike Hosfield (Jr., Golden Valley, Minn.) scored to give the Gusties a 3-1 lead with ten minutes to play in regulation. Once again, Detlefsen hit a slap shot towards the Ole net and Hosfield snuck it past Kehler off the rebound.
The Gusties held the two-goal advantage until the 14:41 mark when St. Olaf drew within one goal on a goal by Dylan Mueller. Gustavus put pressure on the Oles with two minutes to play in regulation, but St. Olaf was able to shoot the puck to the left side of Kraska and squeaked it past him to tie the game at 3-3 and force overtime.
One minute and ten seconds into overtime, Havemeier brought the puck to the corner of the offensive zone and threw the puck in front of the net. After an attempt by Drysdale, Sami Idris knocked in the game-winning goal.
Kraska got the win in net for the Gusties and improved his record to 10-2-1 on the season. He made 31 saves against the Oles. Kehler took the loss, falling to 4-4-3, while making 27 saves.
With his two assists tonight, Detlefsen now has 101 career points on 34 goals and 67 assists. He is the 32nd Gustie to accomplish this feat.
Jon Keseley (Jr., St. Louis Park, Minn.), who had an assist, has scored in 16 of the team’s 17 games this season.
Gustavus will play Bethel in St. Peter on Friday, February 3 at 7:05pm. The two teams will play the second game of the series Saturday evening at Columbia Arena in Fridley at 7:05pm.