The Gustavus men’s hockey team fell to St. Olaf 4-3 on Friday night in Northfield when Barrett Simons scored the game-winning goal with 2:06 remaining in the contest. The Gusties held a 2-0 lead midway through the first period, but the Oles scored the next three goals before Eric Bigham tied the score at 3-3 in the third period. However, Simons tallied the go-ahead goal on a power play for the win. Gustavus drops to 5-2-0 overall and 2-1-0 in the MIAC, while St. Olaf improves to 5-2-0 overall and 3-0-0 in the league.
Cody Mosbeck put the Gusties on the board with a power play goal at the 3:38 mark in the first period after receiving a pass from Ross Ring-Jarvi (Fy., Anoka, Minn.) and Justin Lee (Fy., Excelsior, Minn.). The Gusties took a 2-0 lead when Casey Dynan (Jr., Maple Plain, Minn.) scored the second power play goal of the game with 7:13 elapsed in the first period. Ryan Noonan (So., Andover, Minn.) was awarded an assist on the play. St. Olaf cut the deficit in half to 2-1 as Sam Windsor scored at 14:06 in the period with a skater advantage.
The Oles evened the contest midway through the second period when Isak Tranvik got the puck past Gustavus goaltender Josh Swartout (So., St. Louis Park, Minn.). Neither team scored during the rest of the period as they headed into the second intermission tied 2-2.
Bryan Osmondson scored for St. Olaf eight minutes into the third period for a one-goal edge at 3-2. The Gusties responded though when Eric Bigham (Jr., Robbinsdale, Minn.) got a shot past Ole goaltender Nick Krauss with 7:36 remaining into the game. James Leathers (Jr., Prior Lake, Minn.) and Patrick Dynan (Sr., Maple Plain, Minn.) had assists on the goal. As the end of the game drew closer, Gustavus was called for its’ tenth penalty of the game in a physical contest where both teams were whistled for 19 penalties. Barret Simons scored his first goal of the season at 17:54 in the period to give the Oles a 4-3 lead. The Gusties pulled Swartout with :45 left, but were unable to tie the game as St. Olaf hung on for the win.
Josh Swartout made 24 saves and allowed four goals as he suffered his second loss of the season. David Martinson (Jr., St. Louis Park, Minn.) snapped a 14-game point scoring streak as he was held without a point for the first game since January 25, 2008. Nick Krauss made 25 stops in the winning effort for the Oles after allowing three goals.
Both teams will play on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in Mankato, Minn. at All Seasons Arena. Live stats and video broadcast will be available for the game.