The Gustavus men’s hockey team broke out of its three game scoring slump by exploding for eight goals in a convincing 8-3 win over Saint Scholastica in Duluth on Friday night. The Gusties led 2-1 after the first period, but a four-goal second period broke the game open and the squad cruised to an 8-3 win. Joe Welch recorded his first career hat trick to lead Gustavus. Gustavus improved to 7-7 overall and 3-3 against NCHA opponents, while St. Scholastica fell to 5-9-2 overall and 2-3-1 against MIAC opponents.
St. Scholastica opened the scoring with a goal by A.J. Tucker at the 7:16 mark of the first period. The Gusties bounced back to take a 2-1 lead on goals by Joe Welch (9:56) and Patrick Dynan (16:58). Gustavus would not trail the rest of the game.
David Martinson scored at 4:08 of the second period to extend the lead to 3-1. The Saints battled right back and cut the lead to 3-2 on a goal by Jordan Chong at 12:26. The Gusties broke the game open with three goals in the next two minutes including tallies by Casey Dynan at 12:36, T.J. Ridley at 13:46, and Joe Welch at 14:47. Gustavus held a 6-2 lead after two periods.
The Saints scored on a goal by Dustin DeGagne at 1:21 of the third period to cut the Gustavus lead to 6-3, however the Gusties would counter with two quick goals midway through the period to put the game out of reach. Joe Welch registered the hat trick with his third goal at 10:56 and Rory Dynan capped off a big night for the Dynan brothers with a goal at the 11:55 mark. The Dynan brothers made Gustavus hockey history by becoming the first trio of brothers to all score a goal in the same game in the program’s history. Patrick scored in the first period, Casey scored in the second period, and Rory scored in the third period.
Matt Lopes made 23 saves and picked up the win in the nets for Gustavus. He improved his overall mark to 4-2-0.
Gustavus outshot the Saints 32-26 and committed only two penalties in the contest.
The Gusties (7-7-0) will face UW-Superior on Saturday night at 7:05 pm in Superior, Wis.