Steven Jensen fights his way to the net.
Ben Ollila handles the puck while being tripped.
Jon Keseley winds up for a slapshot.
John Arundel moves the puck down the ice.
The Gustavus men’s hockey team defeated Hamline 5-4 in overtime on Saturday night in St. Peter. Ben Ollila (Jr., Lino Lakes, Minn.) scored two goals in the third period to send the game into overtime and Jon Keseley (Sr., St. Louis Park, Minn.) completed the weekend sweep by scoring with 41 seconds left on the clock. Gustavus improves to 4-6-1 overall and remains unbeaten in the MIAC at 4-0-0. The Pipers fall to 2-6-0 and 1-3-0 in the conference.
The first period was filled with penalties, however all three goals came with both teams at even strength. Hamline got on the scoreboard first at the 9:26 mark when Lee Joos stole the puck in his offensive zone, skated across the crease untouched, and slid the puck by Kevin Johnson (So., Wayzata, Minn.) for a 1-0 Piper lead. Nearly a minute later, Mike Hosfield (Sr., Golden Valley, Minn.) received a pass from Sami Idris (Jr., Gothenburg, Swe.) and threw the puck into the net before Hamline goalkeeper Todor Petkov could get a pad on it. The Gusties took the lead at the 15:29 mark of the period when Steven Jensen (Sr., Kentwood, Mich.), standing in front of the net, was on the receiving end of a Joe Welch (Fy., Hastings, Minn.) pass and shot the puck past Petkov for a 2-1 Gustavus lead. About a minute and a half after Jensen’s goal the Gusties almost found themselves ahead by two goals when Kyle Rohlfs (Jr., Fergus Falls, Minn.) hit the top crossbar.
Gustavus came into the second period ahead by one goal and found themselves down two goals by the end. Hamline’s Kyle Kurr, at the 6:28 mark, knotted the score at 2-2 on a rush into the offensive zone. He shot the puck just above goalkeeper Johnson’s left pad and into the net. The Pipers then used a power play goal at the 8:58 mark by Lee Joos and a goal by Dustin Fulton at the 10:41 mark to claim their 4-2 lead, which they took with them into the second intermission.
Ben Ollila scored at the 8:52 mark of the third period to keep the Gusties in the game when he one-timed an Eric Bigham (Fy., Robbinsdale, Minn.) pass into the net. Ollila got his second goal of the period and tied the score up at 4-4 at the 11:08 mark by firing a shot from the red dot to Petkov’s left side and found the top of the net. Neither team could find the net for the rest of the third period and extra play was needed. Gustavus needed 4:19 of the five-minute overtime to score the game-winning goal. Keseley scored his second overtime game-winning goal in two nights when he found Petkov out of position and hoisted the puck to the top of the net to give the Gusties the 5-4 victory.
Gustavus held a 57-21 advantage in shots but was shutout in five power play opportunities. Hamline scored one power play goal in four attempts. Johnson made 17 saves in net for the Gusties and improves his record to 4-3-0 this year. Petkov recorded 52 saves in the loss and falls to 0-3-0 on the season.
Gustavus will travel to Winona, Minn next Friday to face St. Mary’s and will come home to St. Peter on Saturday to welcome the Cardinals.