The Gustavus men’s hockey team jumped out to a 3-0 lead and held on for an important 3-2 win over Augsburg in Minneapolis on Saturday night. The Gusties got goals from Rory Dynan, Brad Wieck, and Joe Welch, while Josh Swartout registered 15 saves and picked up the win in goal.
With the weekend sweep of Augsburg (6-2 on Friday, 3-2 on Saturday), the Gusties remained atop the MIAC standings with a record of 6-1-1 for 13 points. Hamline is currently in second place with a record of 5-0-1 for 11 points.
After a scoreless first period, the Gusties took a 1-0 lead on a power play goal by Rory Dynan at 1:18 of the second period. Ross Ring-Jarvi and Patrick Dynan were credited with assists. Just over a minute later, Gustavus extended its lead 2-0 when Brad Wieck scored at the 2:51 mark with assists from Eric Bigham and Rory Dynan. The Gusties led 2-0 after two periods.
Gustavus pushed its lead to 3-0 early in the third period when Joe Welch scored at the 2:04 mark with assists from T.J. Ridley and James Leathers.
Augsburg cut the lead to one at 3-2 on goals by Tyler Antony (5:10) and David Hines (15:39), but the Gusties held on for the victory.
Gustavus goaltender Josh Swartout improved to 11-1-1 overall and 6-1-1 in the MIAC as he made 15 saves and allowed both goals.
The Gusties will face Saint John’s in a conference series next weekend. The two rivals will play in St. Peter on Friday night at 7:05 pm and then travel to the Xcel Energy Center on Sunday at 10 am for the final game of the series. Sunday’s game was originally scheduled to be played in St. Cloud on Saturday, but was moved to be a part of the Minnesota Wild Skills Contest, which will follow the Gustavus/Saint John’s game.