The Gustavus men’s hockey team held a 1-0 lead through two periods, but Hamline rallied to score three times in the third period to claim an important 3-1 win and move past the Gusties into first place in the MIAC standings. Gustavus’ lone goal was scored by Patrick Dynan. The two teams will wrap up the series tomorrow night at 7:05 pm at Drake Arena in St. Paul.
It was an emotional night for the Gustavus men’s hockey team, and Gustavus students, and staff as a near capacity crowd of 1,100 celebrated the return of former Gustavus hockey player Brendan Loney, who was injured in a swimming accident last summer that caused him to be paralyzed. Loney was introduced before the game and the team presented him with his #23 jersey as the crowd stood and cheered. Several different groups raised funds during the week and at the game to help Brendan and his parents with medical costs associated with his recovery. Loney was able to raise his right hand from his wheelchair and salute his teammates and the fans as he left the ice.
The Gusties responded with a high-spirited first period and took a 1-0 lead when Patrick Dynan knocked a rebound past Hamline goaltender Beau Christian at the 13:30 mark. Ross Ring-Jarvi and David Martinson were credited with assists.
Both teams played through a scoreless second period and the Gusties took their 1-0 lead into the final 20 minutes of play. The Pipers tied the score at 1-1 at the 6:10 mark when Spencer Anderson sent a blast from the point past a screened Josh Swartout. The Pipers got a fortunate bounce four minutes later when defenseman Jared Hummel blasted a shot way left of the goal that deflected off the stick of Brett Burgau and ricocheted at an extreme angle over the left shoulder of Gustie netminder Swartout. The Gusties got a fortunate bounce later in the period when a blast off the stick of Hamline defenseman Chris Berenguer caromed off the post and bounced away from the Gustavus goal. Hamline held Gustavus scoreless for the final nine minutes of the game and scored an empty net goal with 26 seconds left to make the final score 3-1.
Josh Swartout suffered the loss in the nets for Gustavus. He allowed two goals and registered 25 saves. Beau Christian was the winner in goal for Hamline. He allowed one goal and recorded 28 saves.
With the loss, the Gusties fall into second place with a league mark of 9-2-2 (10 points), while the Pipers moved into first place with a record of 10-2-1 (21 points).
Gustavus also saw its seven-game unbeaten streak come to an end with the loss. The Gusties had not been beaten in over a month with their last loss coming to St. Olaf by the score of 2-1 on January 8.